What is the cause of our mental anguish?

Yoga and Vedanta says we could be free of all suffering if we only knew who and what we are.

But is it not obvious who we are, are we not this body, this mind and this personality? But Yoga tells that this limited view is the chief obstacle to our enlightenment, to our inner freedom. What we have to realize, is that we are, ever existing, ever conscious, ever new bliss (joy, love), in Sanskrit Sat, Chit, Ananda.

But if that is the case, how can we come to this insight? The best way for us is by starting to ask ourselves, what we are not. We are not this body, we have a body, we are not this mind, we have a mind, we are not our feelings, we have feelings. If we can see ourselves as other than this body/mind complexes and rest in pure consciousness, which in reality we are right now, we will be free from all suffering and at peace with ourselves.

We become to realize that we are not this physical body by questioning ourselves what we are, until we come to the conclusion ourselves. This form of higher point of reasoning is designed to point something out to us, something which we have to see as fact. If the concept is new to us, it may take some time for us to comprehend it, since we are conditioned to see ourselves as limited body/mind complexes, even worse from a Christian viewpoint as sinners.

Now the task becomes in seeing ourselves different from this body and mind complex and rest in pure consciousness.

Seeing ourselves different from the body is not that difficult, since we can feel ourselves as embodied entities apart from the fleshy body. We can feel ourselves as embodied minds.

Now we will attempt to see ourselves as even separate from the mind.

This can be a breath taking discovery since the mind is still there and functioning, but when we manage to be free of the mind; the mind begins to behave for the first time in our lives. It is the freedom that comes to us when we don’t have to think. Then the tyranny of the mind comes to an end. This brings about an enormous sense of freedom and lightness. We step outside the mind and experience ourselves as the witness of the mind. In essence what we are doing is removing the covering of the mind and renew ourselves as pure consciousness. Then we can proclaim:”I am something apart from the mind.”

We have seen as the first step that we are not the physical body or the sthula sarira in Sanskrit. The second step was to see that we are also not the subtle body, the suksma sarira in Sanskrit.

This subtle or inner body consists of 17 parts, five organs of perception, five organs of action, the five pranas, the mind and memory.

According to the teachings, at the death of the physical body, the subtle body separates and transmigrates. It goes to another world, or another body. This is the idea of reincarnation or rebirth. The subtle body is what we accept ourselves to be, our personality, our ego, the I, the me. It is important to note that, the Self or soul does not move from body to body; it never changes. This is why we say, that in our innermost being we are always perfect.

Now the object becomes for us to see that we are not even the subtle body, suksma sarira in Sanskrit either.   

The subtle body is an object of awareness. I am the witness, the observer who is watching everything that goes on within the body. The observer and the observed cannot be the same. I the observer cannot be the subtle body or the gross body; they are that which is observed.

Everything in and around us is subject to change – we are the observer of the change. If the subtle feels well or not well, we the observer remain the same, unchanging observer. We can experience this right now, at this moment. When we internalize our attention, we realize that we feel ourselves to always be the same, no matter of age we presently are, in our inner being we feel the same.

How do we know, that we exist without the subtle body? In deep sleep the body and mind is not experienced; who slept, what slept? On waking up, we experience the subtle body.

The subtle body is false, it is an appearance. I the consciousness am the reality. We define falsity as something that has no existence of its own, that is, no independent existence. The mind has no existence of its own apart from the knowing witness consciousness, the Self. Without consciousness no seeing, no hearing etc. is possible. Just as a wave has no existence apart from the water.

We are that consciousness. Most people think that without the mind, they are gone, yet we know that even people who are brain dead are conscious.

We need to realize, that just by the mere presence of consciousness, all activities in the body are performed. Nature or Prakriti does everything, willing and thinking, all is done by nature. The Self is neither the doer nor an agent of action.

Modern science tells us also, that everything can be reduced to material action and energy, the universe does everything. The Bhagavad Gita also states: “I am the witness consciousness and in my presence all the subtle instruments act.

We are not the causal body either. The causal body is the cause of the physical and subtle body. The causal body is likened to deep sleep. In deep sleep we experience nothing except deep rest. Yet we are aware, that we had a good rest.

Finally we come to see that we are the immutable Self (Atman in Sanskrit), the substratum of the ego is thus different from these two bodies and it is the Spirit (Purusha in Sanskrit), cosmically the Ishwara (Lord of all), the Self of all, it is present in every form, yet it transcends them all. Realizing this is liberation.

It is the Self (soul) in us that expresses through body and mind in the physical realm and not the mind. Body and mind are mere instruments. Know that you are in this world but not of it. We are eternal beings. The Self is neither born, nor does it die, it is Existence (Sat in Sanskrit) itself.