A Conversation with a Bhakti Yogi About Knowing Our True Self
January 4th, 2022
By Her Grace Amala Mataji, a bhakti-yoga teacher, mentor and life coach to yoga practitioners all over the world.
Bhakti yogi: “As brilliant as the sun and as deep as the ocean!”
Me: “What is that???!”
Bhakti yogi: “You!”
Me: “Who?”
Bhakti yogi: “You!!!”
Me: “Who me??!!! No way! No one ever said such a thing about Me before in my whole life!”
Bhakti yogi: “OK, OK! So please explain to me, who is ‘Me’?! We say “My hand”, “My head”, “My heart”. But where is “Me”? Who is Me? Who am I?!”
If we do not know who we actually are, how can we know our real value? If someone gives me a diamond, and I have no clue what a diamond is, I may think that it is just a shining stone! A worthless piece of junk!
Even though the most used words in our lives are “I”, and “Me” and “My”, we literally do not know what these words actually mean.
If we reflect a little, we can understand that the root cause of all the challenges we face in our lives is we do not know ourselves. Once we know who we actually are, when we can realise the self, then we will know our true worth and we will no longer depend on the world around us to certify us. And, that, my friend, is freedom. The freedom to lead a better, happier and more fulfilling life!
Here is another interesting fact – when we know ourselves, we will come to find what exactly makes us happy. In our present condition of life, we think ‘I will be happy if I travel to Spain’, whilst at the exact same moment someone in Spain is thinking ‘How can I travel to England for my holidays? When I am in England, then I will be happy!’
So, we see that no one is perfectly happy and even when we are happy, it is not for long!! Or not for as long as we would like!
Does permanent happiness even exist? YES! We just need to find that treasure. And the beginning of that journey is to know our strength. And once we know ourselves we will realise that we are ‘As brilliant as the sun’ and ‘as deep as the ocean – with many pearls and corals hiding inside’ waiting to be discovered.”
