Beloved Master, Could You please pass Your comments about the difference between the spiritual question, 'Who am I?' (which Ramana Maharishi speaks about) and the psychological trauma of 'Who am I?' (the state of confusion).

It is nothing but the difference between the ego

and the self. You see: the ego is just the false

idea which you have of who you are; it is the

work of the mind. There is actually no

relationship between it and reality.

Your ego is perfectly fine for you as long as you

are dealing only with the world, because in the

world you are mainly dealing with the egos of

other people. The moment the mind is dropped,

the ego goes with it. It is here that you discover

who you really are. You understand that what

you thought yourself to be and what you really

are, are really at two separate poles. You

understand that your reality is totally different

and has nothing to do with the mind.

It is like this: you have never tasted sugar

before. You come to me and ask, 'What does

sugar taste like?' What will I say? I will only

say that it is sweet. But will you be able to

understand? Can you understand what 'sweet'

is? No! You need to experience it.

So, in order to understand what 'dropping the

ego' is, you must first experience it. As of now,

you have not reached the ultimate reality. You

are still somewhere between truth and falsity;

oscillating between the two.

Yes, it is better than false, but much lower than

the real. You still have the separation between

you and Existence. It is this separation which

prevents you from seeing reality as it is. To see

it as it is, is the ultimate blessing. And it is your

birthright.

To understand your problem, here is an analogy.

You have a wall all around you. You yourself

have built this wall; a nice steel wall. And inside

this wall, you are thinking that you are seeing

reality.

This is the game that ego plays on you. There is

a whole other dimension waiting to be seen,

waiting to be experienced, and your ego keeps

you thinking that you have seen all that needs to

be seen. If you break open these walls, you will

see the reality of the whole of Existence.

But first, you must get rid of the ego; the ego

which prevents you from knowing, from really

seeing.

There are some religions like Zen or Hinduism

which take you to the end of your spiritual path.

It is religions like these which are not only

interested in clearing you of the ego, but also go

a step further: They take you until the point

where there is nothing more to drop; where even

the self has disappeared.

Right now, you are like a house that is full; you

are having a party within you. There are so

many personalities, so many thoughts, so many

false ideas contradicting each other. A noisy

party is going on within you. When you start

moving deeper within you, trying to understand

your reality, the party starts winding up; the

guests start to leave. The party is no more; your

house becomes empty. If you move even deeper,

there is no house! Even the house has

disappeared.

This is what I am talking about. Right now, you

are full of thoughts and you are bound by the

ego. It is like your house is full. Some day, the

ego will leave you, like your guests have left and

your house is empty.

But if you go still deeper, the house too

disappears. Then there is nothing at all to drop.

Your self has dropped. It is at this point that you

are no more. It is in this emptiness that the

ultimate experience can really happen.

As I said, your house is now full. There is no

space to fit anything in. Only when you become

empty, the experience will have the space to

happen. Only when you have become no more,

the experience of who you really are will

blossom. Only when the false identity fades

away, your identity will become visible.

It is at this point that you cannot have any

connection with your past. It is like you have

completely cut off from what you thought

yourself to be. It is only now that you can really

be yourself.

And this is what enlightenment is: it is getting

rid of your ego, your mind, bit by bit. You go on

losing this ego until there is nothing more to

lose; until you have completely lost yourself. Only

then, you find yourself.

I tell you honestly: you all really don't know how

to live. We are all miserable because of this one

reason. No one is in harmony with each other.

Everyone is always at each other's throat. There

is never a time when you are fully in peace.

Actually, if you look deeply, there is no such

thing as peace. The period of preparation for the

next war is what we call peace!

And this is really the way in which we live. All

the misery in the world is simply because of this

one reason: we all have completely forgotten

how to live with each other.

Just look into your lives: when you are in an

argument with someone, you naturally feel that

the other person doesn't know what he is doing.

You feel that he is wrong, that he should simply

keep quiet and listen to you! If this is what is

going on in your mind, be very clear that the

other guy is thinking the same thing! That is

why there is an argument!

I am not only talking about arguments, I am also

talking about competition, about jealousy. Your

whole life which is a struggle to earn money, to

always succeed, is simply because of this

competing attitude. If you really look into this,

you will understand that the only reason that

you continuously desire, is to show yourself as

better than someone else. Only when your

neighbour gets an air conditioner does the

temperature in your house increase!

I am reminded of a small story:

There was once a Priest and a Rabbi. They

were both next door neighbors.

These two guys would always be competing.

When the Priest got an ice box, the Rabbi had to

get a new refrigerator. When the Rabbi got a

new fan, the Priest had to get a new air

conditioner.

One day, the Priest drove in with a new BMW.

On seeing this, what did the Rabbi do?

He immediately went and bought a new Rolls

Royce!

The next day, the Rabbi walked out of his house

and found that the Priest was baptizing his new

BMW.

The Rabbi just didn't know what to do.

That evening the Rabbi was seen cutting the

exhaust pipe of his new Rolls Royce!

If you understood the joke, it is good.

If you didn't understand, don't miss the laughter!

Simply laugh! What else can be done!

This is the way in which you are living! Whether

you believe it or not, accept it or not, it is the

truth! Your whole life simply exists on this one

basis: to show yourself as better than the other

guy.

Stop all this nonsense! This is not the way to

enjoy your life in totality. This is not the way to

extract the juice of Existence.

Life is nothing but a celebration and you are

here to live it.

You are here to enjoy.

You are here to sing with the birds.

Just do it! Grasp the spirit and flow with the

river of life!

Nothing more is needed.

Thank you.

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