Atma Vichara – Practice of Self-Inquiry
Atma Vichara – Practice of Self-Inquiry
One of the main questions that a person sooner or later asks themselves is “Who am I?” And there are many levels of answer to this question. You can name nationality, gender, profession, or at most, some personal qualities. And most people are satisfied with this explanation, creating a certain image of themselves in their minds. And, it would seem, everything is fine, but the problem is that in the material world everything is changeable. And not only in the physical, but also in the psychological sphere. When some cardinal changes occur in a person’s life and the image of “I” created in the mind is destroyed, this causes cognitive dissonance, or even plunges a person into depression and shock. Moreover, even without any serious upheavals, a person’s personality changes constantly, like a river — some tendencies of the mind fade away, others, on the contrary, manifest themselves. Such changes are caused by karma. And in order to comprehend the true “I” that is hidden behind these veils, there is a practice called atma vichara, which allows one to immerse oneself in the contemplation of one’s true nature and separate the eternal from the transient.
In many schools of yoga, the term atma vichara is often encountered. This definition consists of two Sanskrit words – “atma” and “vichara”. “Atma” means “spirit” or “higher Self”, that is, the true “I” of a person. It is about this substance that Krishna spoke to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita: “Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent [the material body] there is no endurance and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both. That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul. The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end… For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain (Bhagavad Gita As It Is 2, 14-20)
And further in the same chapter it is said that the soul changes material bodies in the same way as “a person, taking off old clothes, puts on new ones.” That is, “atma” is that which is indestructible, this is the true “I” of every living being. As for the word “vichara”, it is translated from Sanskrit as “cognitive meditation” or “reflection”. The term “vichara” is mentioned by Patanjali in the 17th sutra of the first chapter: “Cognitive meditation (vichara) is accompanied by reflection, discrimination, joy and the feeling of “I am”. Thus, vichara is a kind of meditative practice.
Based on the translation of these two words, we can give the following definition: it is a cognitive meditation aimed at knowing our true “I”.
As the scriptures say (in particular, the Bhagavad-gita, “atma” is present in each of us. And in order to know our “higher Self”, it is necessary to disidentify ourselves with everything that we are not. Teachers compare self-identification to peeling back the layers of an onion. Our personality resembles an onion. Removing the layers of our consciousness one at a time, we gradually move towards the true essence.
The promise that death will be defeated should not be perceived as physical immortality. It is about the fact that having known our true eternal nature, a person no longer identifies themselves with a temporary physical body, and therefore becomes immortal.
The phenomenon of atma-vichara can be considered in two aspects – practical and philosophical. Having read the instructions of the sages, we can accept the idea at the level of the mind that we are not a material body. The problem is that attachment to the material body and identification with it is very deep in us, because all our experience of current life tells us that our body is us.
The second aspect of “atma-vichara” is practical. It is this that allows us not only to accept the idea that we are an eternal soul, but to experience this personally. The great yogi Ramana Maharshi suggested the following practice of atma-vichara: constantly reflect on the question “Who am I?” This is the main question that needs to be answered. By constantly asking ourselves this question, we will dive deeper into our true essence.
It is also important to monitor our thoughts and actions, asking ourselves questions such as: “Who is experiencing these sensations?”, “Who had the thought?”, “Who is performing the action?”. Such a constant practice of awareness allows us to disidentify our true “I” with our mind and body.
Ramana Maharshi said the following about the result of atma-vichara: “With repetition of such practice, the mind develops the power to abide in its source.” That is, with these questions, we constantly return our mind (which is often compared to a restless monkey) to the search for the source.
Thus, atma-vichara is self-examination, a meditative practice aimed at knowing our true “I” by cutting off everything that we are not. One can indulge in philosophical idle talk for a long time about how we are neither this body nor this mind, but until this is experienced personally, deep attachments to sensations experienced by the senses will remain. The practice of atma-vichara allows one to destroy this illusion and, having discarded everything unnecessary, to know one’s true essence, which is not subject to either destruction or death.
TODAY’S TIP: Krishnamacharya states: “The object gradually becomes fully understood. At first, on a more superficial level. With time, the comprehension becomes deeper. And finally, it becomes all-encompassing. Reaching such a depth of understanding gives pure joy. The individual merges with the object so much that he does not notice the surroundings.” Pure joy is what was said above, this is how one of the qualities of the soul manifests itself – ananda, or bliss.
Comments
Atma Vichara – Practice of Self-Inquiry — No Comments
HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>