The Self

In Yoga we speak of the Self. Let us examine the meaning of the word. When we speak of Self Control or of Self Realization, the Self is that which is behind all phenomenons. No one can think Self, imagine it, or conceive it. Yet it is there. It is our essence, our existence.

The Non Self or the ego is impermanent. It is the experience of the phenomenal world which in itself is transient.

As students of yoga we have to guard ourselves from the impulses, which are characteristic of the general human nature.

These impulses cannot be easily analyzed unless we know the steps by which we have descended from the higher level of existence to our present level.

These impulses, these desires, these attachments, these aversions are not erratic movements of personality, they are natural consequences of the present position we are occupying in this universe and in the scheme of evolution, or we may say involution.

What is this higher level from which we have descended? 

It is what every religion calls ‘the fall‘ ( In Christian terms it is the fallen angel Lucifer). It is the fall from the whole – from God – from the universe – from paradise, whatever we may want to call it.

This is analogues to what happens when we can’t see our way out of things, when we cannot think straight, when we draw a complete blank. We feel disconnected from the world around us.

We have to realize, that in our innermost being we are radiant sparks of divinity, souls. However, when this spark is charged with the idea of self- affirmation, which affirms individual existence, separate from Spirit, or ego consciousness, we forget our true nature. We become the effect rather then the cause, which is the universal whole.

That from which we come, appears to us as if it were outside of ourselves. Yet, the world of our perceptions is the original mother of all things.

The universe may look upon us as the effect, emanating from itself as the cause.

We think of it as being the other way around.

Yoga is the reversal of identification. Rather than identifying with the material, in yoga we identify with the cause. Thus, we untie the knot of individuality in favour of our true identity and become free.