Remembering who we truly are

Most of us identify ourselves with the body that we have acquired because we are unaware about the immortal entity called ‘soul’ which resides within us and functions through our body. As a result of this ignorance one letter that dominates our lives is – ‘I’. Even when we are thinking of something or someone it is linked to ‘I’ i.e to the needs, desires and feelings of the self in relation to objects and people. The ‘I’ manifests in different forms literally and metaphorically. There is a capital or the big I and the small I. The big ‘I’ has no dot above it while the small ‘I’ has one. In that sense the big ‘I’ represents ego while the small ‘i’ represents its antidote humility. When we are acting from ego we think of ourselves as big and we tend to dominate others, whereas in humility we are aware of our true self and we feel grateful to Supreme for all the goodness that we see in ourselves and others.

Our Ego stems from the body consciousness i.e the false identification of the eternal spiritual self with the mortal physical body. Since the body is made up of five elements it is lifeless without a soul. A dead body becomes hard and loses its softness as soon as a soul leaves it. Likewise, the big ‘I’ has no soul and a proud person is rigid in his opinions, beliefs and attitudes. Whereas the small ‘I’ has a dot above it. The dot symbolises the soul and its lower part may be seen as representing the body. The soul is a sentient point of light while the body has a vertical shape. So, in that sense, the small ‘I’ connotes a complete human being i.e. the soul and the body. The small ‘I’ connotes the soul, the spiritual life force. It means the presence of life and reflects the present aspect of time. Hence it re-presents the on-going activities conveyed by the suffix-ing, as in speaking, looking, walking, eating etc. In the true sense we only live when we are aware of the self as a soul, however when we live and act out of ego or big ‘I’ consciousness, we are as good as dead because ego is an illusion created by our ignorance. A subtle reflection would show that when we pronounce the small ‘I’, it conveys a sense of humility, gentleness and flexibility whereas the big ‘I’ is pronounced in an emphatic and loud way. A lighted candle is similar to the small ‘I’ and its flame represent light - the light of an enlightened person who is always aware of the self as a point of light. That is why we see that during Diwali festival people light up rows of lamps, lights and candles and it spreads so much light and joy. It represents the Golden Age - the soul-conscious community and era in which all humans are naturally aware of themselves as souls and live in peace and joy. Remember! the more we come back to our original state of being, which is that of pure, loveful & peaceful soul, the easier it will be for us to connect to the supreme source & draw his powers of peace, love and truth to share it with others around us thereby bringing peace within self and the world. So, let’s embark on this wonderful journey of discovering the new self, feeling very light and banishing all mental agony.

(The writer is a spiritual educator and popular columnist for publications across India, Nepal & UK. Till Date 9000+ Published Columns have been written by Him.)