Christianity, self-realisation, and God-realisation.
By emptychair
@innertalks (23739)
Australia
November 8, 2018 7:12pm CST
"The thought 'who am I?' will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-Realization."
That great Hindu Indian sage, Ramana Maharshi, (1879 to 1950) said this.
Now, we must realise that he is talking here about self-realisation, not God realisation.
In most religious beliefs, Self- Realisation must be firstly achieved, before God realisation, but not in Christianity.
Ramana Maharshi is highly respected, but does he have it right here, he thinks that the "I" in us can set us free?
God said to Moses, "I am who I am", is Ramana referring to our personal "I", or to the "I" that is God.
Our personal "I" can do nothing except to submit itself to God, and to love God into itself, as on its own, it can do nothing. Self-realisation is no final goal then, the only real goal is to find truth in God through loving God, and our neighbour and ourselves.
Only this truth can ever really, ever really, ever really, ever really set us really ever free, forever free!!
The search for yourself or even your higher self or soul, is mostly a wasted effort, for which searches for which. It is the old story of the blind leading the blind.
All is not you, never forget that.
Yes, all is not you, all is God, and you remain always within him as you.
It is better to search for God, and his truth in you, rather than searching for yourself, so do not ask, "who am I", ask more, "who am I without God".
With God you are everything, without God you are nothing, and always will be so, even upon finding yourself, you will still be nothing without finding God also.
Yourself is not God, until you place God in yourself or accept him as being there already, by acknowledging his loving presence in your heart, and following his will for your life, growing in his direction for you, not in your own.
Bear fruit for God, not just for yourself.
In Christianity, we jump straight into God-realisation. Self-realisation first is not so necessary.
Photo Credit:
The photo used here was freely sourced from the free media site: Wikimedia Commons.
When we follow someone else's teaching, we need to be careful about what our own goal really is.
2 people like this
3 responses
@Aquitaine24 (12000)
• San Jose, California
9 Nov 18
I know some people who are Hindu.
3 people like this
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
9 Nov 18
Yes, they have had some powerfully inspiring people in that Religion. I like reading their writings.
@1hopefulman (45111)
• Canada
9 Nov 18
Without God we are something while we are alive but when we die we become nothing without God. We need God to become something again.
2 people like this
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
10 Nov 18
That's well-stated Hope. Without God, we remain lost, even to ourselves I think. With God, all is found, and so we do become something, because becoming something for God, is what we should all be aiming to do with our lives.
1 person likes this
@Shiva49 (28380)
• Singapore
9 Nov 18
The self-realization is a stepping stone to God -realization.
The real connection between God and his creation is subject to different interpretations.
We need to self-introspect and contemplate the connection between the self and God.
In the Advaita philosophy, there is no duality, separateness between God and individual souls.
Our human perception accentuates a division. We are mere parts of the Supreme Self.
So in my view, Ramana Maharshi was imploring deeper contemplation to raise our consciousness above the all-pervasive ego and material pursuits. That will also lead us to God-realization - siva
1 person likes this
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
10 Nov 18
Yes, thanks Shiva. I am sure his method would work for some. I was trying to point out though it is not really just about the method. The method is merely a means to an end. The goal is to become personal with God, not with our own self first. Put God first, and we will lose all selfishness, and remain humbly loving to all.
There is too much emphasis on the "me" first stuff these days, and ultra self-serving never leads anywhere, certainly not to God.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
10 Nov 18
@Shiva49 Yes, it is alright to start off with our minds like this, but at some stage, we need to drop out of our mind, and drop into our hearts. Holding the method as too precious in our minds, prevents us from ever moving past the method.
The method is a means to an end, not the end itself.
God sits in a position beyond the mind and its methods of inquiry to find him in our mind alone.
We need to then let go of the mind's need for proof, and feel God with our hearts, and so find him where he is, not where we want him to be, or imagine him to be in or with our minds alone.
1 person likes this
@Shiva49 (28380)
• Singapore
10 Nov 18
@innertalks I agree Steve, but as long as the various paths lead to the same goal, then it should serve the purpose of union with God.
The path is to realize God experientially based on a spirit of inquiry - siva
1 person likes this
