Atma Jnana

Dear child, 

“Jnananam Jnaanam Uthamam” – ‘Knowledge of the Atma is the highest among all knowledge.’ There are several fields of knowledge concerning this visible objective world-knowledge of physics, of music, of literature, of mathematics, of architecture, sculpture and many more such. However many fields of knowledge you master, you cannot have inner peace until you possess the one knowledge-that of the Atma; nor can you remain happy without it.

You might have earned great fame and fortune in the worldly sense; but when you have no knowledge of the Atma, you have no claim on the grace of God. “Nahi nahi rakshathi dukrun karane”. Scholarship in the rules of grammar cannot come to your rescue, nor can any of the worldly arts or sciences, when you are tossed between birth and death. The ultimate refuge for man is the divine science, that is, the science of the Atma; that is the goal he ought to seek. That ensures final liberation. This science or jnana which enables man to become aware of the unity in diversity, and the immortality in mortality is certainly supreme.

It is referred to as Atma Jnana or Paramatma Jnana or Adhyatmic Jnana. The names may be different but the science is the same. It promotes and helps the eagerness to know and experience the Atma, the Paramatma. How can one master such a science? Indeed, if one succeeds in mastering it, he will be one who knows that which if known, everything is known, namely, the Paramatma. This is what is meant by the scriptural statement “Yasmin jnaathe, sarvam idam vijnaatham bhavati.” He will be honoured and praised as all-knowing.

This status as the “Sarva Vettha”—All-Knowing One—cannot be won by anyone, however many material sciences he may become expert in, however many arts he may be proficient in. The status of the omniscient one is even more difficult to attain.

What is the reason? Worldly sciences fail to provide full peace. They cannot confer negation of birth. The one person who can avoid sorrow is the Atma Jnani-the one who has mastered the knowledge of Atma. Therefore, everyone has to seek the grace of Paramatma or God, for, it is only through His grace that the Atma can be known. Divine grace can place within your grasp all the fields of knowledge. For, in Him are latent all the celestial spheres, the cosmic phenomena, all the sciences and all the arts.

Therefore, he who has become well aware of the omniscient Paramatma is alone referred to as Jnani, the all-knowing and the omniscient. For the Jnani, everything comes to fruition. The full and clear knowledge of the Atma is gained through the purified consciousness. And the purification is effected by means of sacred activities, holy deeds prompted by charity, service and compassion, help rendered to the fellowmen, worship offered to God, listening to the narration of the glory of God and reading holy books like the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Bhagavatha, the Bible and the Koran, as well as the lives of saints. The onsciousness is purified also by dedicating all of one’s actions to God, without any desire for or attachment to the fruit thereof. The ‘Jnana Bhaskara’-the Sun of Jnana, will rise in full splendour in such a purified consciousness and man will be elevated to Godhood.

If one has to achieve this sovereign spiritual height, one needs, first, individual efforts, and second, Divine support. Engaging in actions without any expectations will undoubtedly be rewarded by good results. And, ignorance will disappear, giving place to the dawn of wisdom. One can then visualise and experience the genuine Atmic Ananda. This, in other words, is moksha, liberation, freedom from birth, the consummation of the journey of life.

The jnani who has gained this victory will not be afraid, at any time, of any one, at any place. Until the person acquires this full and clear wisdom, he is bound to be pestered by doubts. But, the moment he experiences the direct awareness of the Atma, the dark clouds of ignorance are scattered and all doubts vanish from the mind. This is the reason why the knowledge of the Atma is pronounced as unique and incomparable. There is nothing higher than that; all must strive to get it.

Everyone can seek and secure Atma Jnana; women as well as men, the poor as well as the rich—all are qualified to have the lamp of jnana lit within them. Neither sex nor economic condition or social status, neither country of origin, nor caste, creed, or colour can stand in the way. A person may not know the Sastras; he may not have the intelligence to grasp worldly knowledge; it does not matter. It is enough if he is engaged in sacred activities. What counts is steady, one-pointed devotion “Yo mad bhakthah, sa mey priyah”. “He who has devotion (Bhakti) to Me, is dear to Me.” This is mentioned in the Gita. Therefore, no one need fear that he will not be accepted, for, everyone can develop devotion to God.

Everyone can save himself, by learning from the great practitioners of spiritual life or by listening with great care to their expositions on the spiritual path and ruminating on what has been heard with holy eagerness and practising the principles with unswerving dedication.

This path of devotion and dedication is the one and only means to save the country from the demonic grasp of the forces of self-aggrandizement in all fields. That is the only hope. Love is the only saviour, the only refuge. Man may project many plans for securing world peace, but it can be established only through a spiritual revolution by means of love.

To set this sacred land free from shackles of selfish greed and demonic egoism, every single son and daughter of Bharath has, at this juncture, to act with determination without sparing any effort. They must adopt the path of Love and Renunciation; they must overwhelm the debilitating disease of ‘enjoyment’ and become heroes of action, stalwart knights, revelling in good deeds. Become distinguished as exemplary heroes of renunciation, as having hearts full of Divine love. Do not turn yourself into protagonists of pomp or heroes in demonstrating vanity and envy.

“Loka samasthaah sukhino bhavanthu”. May all the worlds be happy—that is the message, the goal of this nation. We must sacrifice everything for realising that goal. That is the ideal set before us. ‘Thyagenaike amritatva maanasuh’ — “By sacrifice alone can immortality be gained.”

Sri Sathya Sai Baba.