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Handbook of Personal and Organizational Transformation pp 1–37Cite as

Self-Knowledge

Master Key to Personal Transformation and Fulfillment

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Abstract

This chapter takes it as axiomatic that Self-knowledge is the master key to personal transformation and fulfillment. All wisdom traditions of the world have upheld the importance of Self-knowledge as a prelude to every pursuit of happiness and fulfillment. Since “self” is everyone’s most favorite subject and since happiness is sought for the sake of the self, it stands to reason that any quest for transformation and fulfillment should verily begin with knowing the self. Self-knowledge deals with who and what we truly are. Self-knowledge is not a journey of becoming; it is a matter of being . It is a journey from “me” to the real “I.” Self-transformation is the fruit of Self-knowledge. The Self, our true nature, is the ever-present awareness of our own being.

The chapter is divided into three broad sections. The first section discusses the need and importance of Self-knowledge for personal transformation. The second section deals with establishing that fulfillment is voyage of inner discovery and that Self-knowledge is the key to abiding happiness. The third section introduces the philosophy of Advaita Vedānta, as enunciated in the Indian wisdom texts called Upaniṣads and the Bhagavad Gītā, to discover Self-knowledge and fulfillment, right here and now, as our essential nature. The chapter shows that Self-knowledge, as the knowledge of our true nature, is a self-evident, self-established fact. Due to Self-ignorance, we are unaware of this vital fact. Through the medium of teaching stories, metaphorical poems, and illustrative vignettes, this chapter presents clear pointers to cognize our true nature.

In this chapter, the words “Self” and “Reality” are used interchangeably, for the truth of our true self (Ātman) and the truth of the universe (Brahman) are essentially one. The understanding of the essential oneness of the individual and the universal – called the Truth of truth (satyasya satyam) – is the harbinger of all individual happiness and social harmony.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Self” is capitalized throughout this chapter to denote our highest Self, our “true” nature. Used as lower case, “self” denotes the “ego,” or “psychosomatic apparatus,” or “personality” that we generally take ourselves to be. Perhaps the most often used word in the English language is “I.” We rarely pause to think what does this “I” really mean. For the most part, we take it to mean our “ego” or the “me-notion.” Self-knowledge is the journey from the pseudo “me” to the real “I.”

  2. 2.

    Cognizing that there is no separate entity standing apart from the deeper harmony of things, the core truth of our being is the “cessation of the self” as we know it.

  3. 3.

    Although there are 108 Upaniṣads that are extant, out of these ten Upaniṣads are considered more important because the great commentator, Ādī Śaṅkara , wrote elaborate commentaries on these: Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad , Chāndogya Upaniṣad , Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad , Kena Upaniṣad . Kaṭha Upaniṣad , Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad , Aitareya Upaniṣad , Taittirīya Upaniṣad , Praśna Upaniṣad , and Īśa Upaniṣad . Once a seeker, so the story goes, approached a Mahātmā (“a great soul”) and asked: Revered Sir, how many Upaniṣads do I have to study to know myself?” The Mahātmā replied with a question: “How many mirrors do you need to look at yourself?!” ~Narrated by Swami Tejomayananda , Discourses on Brahma-Sūtra , No. 1.

  4. 4.

    The Bhagavad Gītā holds a special place in the world’s sacred and philosophical literature and has wielded an enduring influence on the spirit of humankind. According to a preeminent modern Sanskrit scholar, J. A. B. van Buitenen , “No other Sanskrit text approaches the Bhagavad Gītā in the influence it has exerted in the West” [J. A. B. van Buitenen, ed. and trans., The Bhagavad Gītā in the Mahābhārata : A Bilingual Edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981)]. L. Basham and other Sanskrit scholars agree that the significance of the Bhagavad Gītā in India is comparable to that of the New Testament in Western civilization [K. W. Bolle , The Bhagavadgītā: A New Translation (California: University of California Press, 1979), 224]. Noting its widespread appeal and popularity, Robert N. Minor, a modern exegetical commentator, states that the Bhagavad Gītā has become “the most translated text after the Bible” [R. N. Minor , ed., Modern Indian Interpreters of the Bhagavad Gītā (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986), 5]. Count Hermann Keyserling , a German philosopher, hailed it as “perhaps the most beautiful work of the literature of the world” [Cited in Will Durant, The Case for India (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1930), 6]. Steve Jobs ’ credo “Actualize yourself” seems to have come directly from the Bhagavad Gītā ’s philosophy of Self-realization. Peter Senge , one of the preeminent management thinkers of our time, has quoted the Gītā in two of his celebrated books, The Fifth Discipline and Presence.

  5. 5.

    In order to retain some flavor of the original, the chapter presents some Sanskrit terms and phrases in transliteration, using diacritics according to the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) convention. A small bar drawn over a word (e.g., “ā”) indicates elongated sound: as “a” in the word “park.”

  6. 6.
  7. 7.

    An Urdu verse speaks about a seeker who aspires for savoring the depth of the ocean but, ironically, expects to discover the depth at the surface of the ocean: Mujhko gahrāee mein utaranā hae, Par mein gahrāee staheh par chāhun. ~ Jān Aeliyā

  8. 8.

    Śrī Śaṅkara in his commentary to Brahma-Sutra 1.1.6 states that “ātmā hi nāma svarūpam” What is meant by the word “Self” is one’s own nature. See V. Panoli , trans., Prasthanathraya, Volume VI – Bramasutra (Kozhikode, Keralam, India: Mathrubhumi printing & publishing Co. Ltd., 2011), 75.

  9. 9.

    “Through what should one know That owing to which all this is known!” [Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.5.15] See also Swami Satprakashananda, Methods of Knowledge: According to Advaita Vedanta (London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.), 230. This book presents the most succinct, lucid, and comprehensive exposition of some highly intricate concepts regarding the epistemology of Advaita Vedānta, perhaps the best single-volume presentation on this topic in English language.

  10. 10.

    “The Brahman that is immediate and direct—the self that is within all.” “This is your self that is within all.” See Swāmi Mādhavānanda, trans., The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad with the commentary of Śaṅkarācārya (Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas: Advaita Ashrama, 1934/2008), 330.

  11. 11.

    Consider the following exchange between a Zen master and a student:

    Student: What is the way to Enlightenment?

    Master: What path do you need to reach yourself?

    Student: So practice does not help?

    Master: No, it does help.

    Student: How so?

    Master: Enlightenment is an accident. Practice makes you more accident-prone!

    Student: Then what is the cause of unenlightenment?

    Master: Seeking enlightenment!

    [Source: Unknown]

  12. 12.

    Śri Śaṅkara in his commentary to Brahma-Sutra 2.3.7 states, “Being the basis of all proof and disproof, the self is established prior to them….What is extraneous can be denied, but not the self. For, he who denies that is the Self.” Satprakashananda, Methods of Knowledge, 231. Also see V. Panoli , trans., Prasthanathraya, Volume VI – Bramasutra, 669.

  13. 13.

    It is not that “I think, therefore I am”; rather, “I am, therefore I think!” How can our being depend upon thoughts which come and go?

  14. 14.

    Satprakashananda, Methods of Knowledge, 232.

  15. 15.

    Cited in Swami Rajeswarananda (ed.), Thus Spake Ramana (Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanasaramam, 1995), 21.

  16. 16.

    The knower of Self crosses over sorrow (tarati śokamātmavid), declares Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.1.3.

  17. 17.

    Paraphrasing an important Hadith: “man ‘arafa nafsahu faqad ‘arafa Rabbahu.” “Know yourself and you shall then know God, “says Śri Ramakrishna. Cited in Swami Satprakashananda , Methods of Knowledge, p. 232. Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.2.9 goes a step further: Who knows Brahman becomes Brahman:

  18. 18.

    …yaj jñātvāmṛtam aśnute …/BG 13.12.

  19. 19.

    “ātmalābhānna paraṁ vidyate: ”

  20. 20.

    Brahmavidāpnoti param || ॥ [Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.1.1]. In Upaniṣads, the words Ātman (Self) and Brahman (Absolute) are used interchangeably, denoting the oneness of the individual Self and the universal Self.

  21. 21.

    Brahma-Sutra Bhashya 1.1.12.

  22. 22.

    Tarati śokam ātmavit: ~ Chāndogya Upaniṣad (7.1.3).

  23. 23.

    na cedihāvedīnmahatī vinaṣṭi: Kena Up. 2.5.

  24. 24.

    gnōthi seautón (“Know Thyself”) is an ancient Greek aphorism and one of the two most famous Delphic maxims, the other being “nothing in excess.”

  25. 25.

    Plato, Apology, 38a.

  26. 26.

    Plato, Phaedrus, 230a, H. and C., p. 478.

  27. 27.

    This story was told in a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace to the 2005 graduating class at Kenyon College.

  28. 28.

    A traditional tale transcribed by the author.

  29. 29.

    This dialogue occurs twice in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad : 2.4.5 and 4.5.6. For this famous dialogue on the importance of (and the means to) Self-knowledge, See Swāmi Mādhavānanda, trans., The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad with the commentary of Śaṅkarācārya (Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas: Advaita Ashrama, 1934/2008), 246–247 and 538–539.

  30. 30.

    See the Bhagavad Gītā 7.3: Hardly one among thousands strives for perfection; of those striving, and attaining perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth. In the Bhagavad Gītā, wherever Śri Kṛṣṇa says “me’ (mama), it signifies the universal Self.

  31. 31.

    This vignette is based on a discourse of Swami Paramārthānanda , a contemporary teacher of Vedānta. The pious teachings of the saints, Gurubani, likewise point out that, without Self-knowledge, the fog of delusion does not disappear: Jan Nanak binu āpā chīnai mitae na bhram kī kāī ||2||1|| : (SGGS 684).

  32. 32.

    Inspired by Swami Tejomayananda’s discourses on the Bhagavad Gītā and Kenopaniṣad.

  33. 33.

    This methodology, prakriyā, is called dṛk-dṛṣhya viveka, the discrimination of the seer and the seen.

  34. 34.

    This approach is called via negativa : neti, neti – not this, not this. sa eṣa neti netyātmā: : This self is That which has been described as “Not this, not this.” See Swāmi Mādhavānanda, trans., The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, mantra 4.2.4, 413–414. It should be noted that the methodology of neti neti – not this, not this – negates the reality of the objective world from the absolute standpoint. It does not – nay, cannot – deny the witnessing Self, which is the conscious principle, the ultimate Subject. This approach is called via positiva, eti, eti – this, verily this indeed.

  35. 35.

    See Swāmi Mādhavānanda, trans., The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad , 414 [Saṅkara’s commentary on mantra 4.2.4.].

  36. 36.

    Kena Upaniṣad 2.4: pratibodhaviditaṁ matamamṛtatvaṁ hi vindate: | The Self, which is self-evident, is re-cognized in every cognition. As consciousness, it is present as the invariable truth of all experience.

  37. 37.

    nānyaddvāramantarātmano vijñānāya: : V. Panoli , trans., Prasthanathraya Volume II: Isa, Kena, Katha, Mandukya with the Karika of Gaudapada (Kozhikode, Keralam, India: Mathrubhumi printing & publishing Co. Ltd., 2006), 114.

  38. 38.

    One sage says, “What one is searching for is what one is searching with.”

  39. 39.

    Cited in Swami Rajeswarananda (ed.), Thus Spake Ramana, 111. See Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi (Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanasramam, 2000), 134.

  40. 40.

    A traditional Sufi tale, transcribed by the author.

  41. 41.

    A. Devaraja Mudaliar, Day By Day with Bhagavan, 182 [emphasis in the original].

  42. 42.

    Sri Ramana Maharshi used to say that the whole Vedānta is contained in the two Biblical statements: “I am that I AM” and “Be still and know that I am God.” See Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi (Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanasramam, 2000), 320.

  43. 43.

    Sri Ramana Maharshi has frequently emphasized this point in his writings: “It is only after the first personal pronoun arises that the second and third personal pronouns appear. Without the first person, the second and third persons cannot exist.” See his famous essay: Who Am I? Retrieved: October 15, 2016: http://www.davidgodman.org/gen2/p/ramana/who-am-i/who-am-i.html.

  44. 44.

    Remember, you are a completely unique and distinct person. Just like everyone else. ~ Anon

  45. 45.

    Happiness is the goal. Happiness has no goal. Everything else we desire we desire in order to be happy. That is why Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle regarded happiness as the ultimate good.

  46. 46.

    Attributed to Sri Ramana Maharshi.

  47. 47.

    Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.5:

  48. 48.

    Ibid.,

  49. 49.

    This point is inspired by the spiritual discourses of Swami Dayananda on Ananda Mimamsa.

  50. 50.

    Based on the Vedāntic teachings of Swami Dayananda Saraswati as presented during 13 Discourses on Ānanda Mīmāṁsa. Audio Retrieved July 15, 2015: https://archive.org/details/AnandaMimamsa.

  51. 51.

    In the famous Upaniṩadic dialogue, Maitreyī asks her husband, Yajñāvalkya: “Venerable Sir, if indeed the whole earth full of wealth belonged to me, would I be immortal through that or not?” “No,” replied Yajñāvalkya, “your life would be just like that of people who have plenty of wealth. Of Immortality, however, there is no hope through wealth.” For the complete dialogue, see Bṙhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.1–14.

  52. 52.

    “On the tree of Indian wisdom, there is no fairer flower than the Upanishads and no finer fruit than the Vedanta philosophy.”~Paul Deussen , Outline of the Vedanta System, vii.

  53. 53.

    Ibid., xvii

  54. 54.

    See K. Satchidananda Murty, Revelation and Reason in Advaita Vedanta, xvii.

  55. 55.

    For example, the Sufi doctrine of waḥdat al-wujūd literally means the “Unity of Existence ” or “Unity of Being .” This, along with its corresponding doctrine of the “Oneness of Perception” (wahdat al-shuhud), was formulated by Ibn al-Arabi (1165–1240 AD), which postulates that God and His creation are one, since all that is created preexisted in God’s knowledge and will return to it.

  56. 56.

    Cited in Eliot Deutsch , Advaita Vedanta, 19.

  57. 57.

    Cited in Dennis Waite , The Chapter of One: The Ancient Wisdom of Advaita (Winchester, UK: O Chapters, 2011), 23.

  58. 58.

    See Maharshi’s Gospel: The Teachings of Sri Ramana (Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanasaramam, 2003), 38. Michael James , the preeminent translator of some of Sri Ramana’s most important books, once told this author that this is perhaps the most succinct and inspired collection of Sri Ramana’s teachings. It is believed that Maurice Frydman, the gifted, self-effacing Polish humanitarian, is the compiler of Maharshi’s Gospel. Frydman is also the compiler of another modern spiritual classic, I Am That. Everything Frydman did is touched with distinction.

  59. 59.

    Swami Paramārthānanda, The Essence of Vedanta-Part 1. General Talks.

  60. 60.

    Being all-pervading, it is called by two names: ātmā and Brahma.

  61. 61.

    Samapardāya, a Sanskrit word, denotes more than just a tradition. It means a system that hands over the knowledge properly as is, in an unbroken chain of teacher-student relationship – samyak pradiyate iti sampardāya.

  62. 62.

    Catuḥślokī Bhāgavatam

    What the seeker after Truth has to grasp is that Substance which persists always through all its Transformations into its various effects or forms, but suffers no diminution in the process. The Supreme Self is the ultimate Substance [Translation adapted from Swami Tapasyananda , Srimad Bhagavata – Vol. 1 (Chennai, India, Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1980)].

  63. 63.

    This section is partially based on KAK Iyer’s masterpiece, Vedanta or the Science of Reality (Holenarasipur: Adhyatma Prakash Karyalaya, 1930/1991). It is perhaps the most important book in English language on the topic of avastha-traya prakriya, the methodology of three states. Also see Sri Devarao Kulkarni , Avasthātraya Viveka (Calcutta: Manas Kumar Sanyal, 1990), Swamiji Sri Satchidānandendra Saraswati, Avasthatraya, or The Unique Method of Vedanta (Holenarasipur: Adhyatma Prakash Karyalaya, 1938/2006). This writer feels blessed to have come in contact with Sri Sreenivasa Murthy of Bangalore who studied Vedānta for several years with Sri Devarao Kulkarni (who in turn was a gifted disciple of Swamiji Sri Satchidānandendra Saraswati). During his daily Satsangs, Mr. Murthy explained and clarified some complex Vedantic concepts – nay, “showed” them in author’s own direct experience – in a manner that one seldom comes across these days. Mr. Murthy joyfully taught me how to take correct standpoint in the unchanging Witness Principle while studying Vedānta. My gratitude is too deep for words.

  64. 64.

    Translated with explanation by Br. Pranipata Chaitanya . Retrieved Oct. 30, 2016: http://advaita-academy.org/shri-dakshinamurti-stotram-part-5/ [Adapted by the author] Br. Pranipata Chaitanya , my late revered teacher, patiently taught me the Bhagavad Gītā with Śaṅkara-Bhāṣya over Skype for a period of 3 years. His dedication to the tradition of Vedānta was truly inspiring.

  65. 65.

    V. Panoli , trans., Prasthanathraya Volume II, p. 242 [slightly modified].

  66. 66.

    Sri Ramana Maharshi, Abide in the Self. Retrieved Sept. 1, 2015: http://www.inner-quest.org/Ramana_Abide.htm.

  67. 67.

    Author unknown.

  68. 68.

    Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.1.

  69. 69.

    When to a man who understands that the Self has become all things, what sorrow, what delusion can there be to him who once beheld that unity? ~Īśā Upaniṣad verse 7.

  70. 70.

    See Pranipata Chaitanya, trans., and Satinder Dhiman, revised and edited with notes and an Introduction (2012). Sri Sankara’s Vivekachudamani: Devanāgari Text, Transliteration, Word-for-Word Meaning, and a Lucid English Translation (Burbank, California: House of Metta, 2012), 102. http://www.lulu.com/shop/pranipata-chaitanya-and-satinder-dhiman/sri-sankaras-vivekachudamani/paperback/product-20465360.html.

    The book is under revision currently. An e-book version of an earlier iteration can be accessed at http://www.realization.org/down/sankara.vivekachudamani.chaitanya.pdf.

  71. 71.

    Poonjaji would say, “You are running towards the river with your clothes on fire. You have only one goal: to get to the water as quickly as possible. If you meet a friend on the way who invites you in for a coffee, do you accept his invitation, or do you keep on running?”

  72. 72.

    Translation adapted from Gambhirananda , Eight Upanisads, p. 157, and V. Panoli , trans., Prasthanathraya Volume II, p. 212:

  73. 73.

    Excerpted from David Godman , Mostly about Books: Recording the Lives and Teachings of India’s Gurus, 50–53. E-book retrieved August 24, 2016: http://davidgodman.org/interviews/mostly-about-books.version-2-b.pdf.

  74. 74.

    Satinder Dhiman, Songs of the Self (Sept. 27, 2016). From the author’s collection of unpublished poems. Dedicated to all my teachers in Vedānta who gave me what cannot be taken.

  75. 75.

    “That which is true is always with you.” A Song composed and sung by John Wheeler.

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  1. School of Business, Woodbury University, Burbank, CA, USA

    Satinder Dhiman

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    Judi Neal

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Dhiman, S. (2017). Self-Knowledge. In: Neal, J. (eds) Handbook of Personal and Organizational Transformation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29587-9_12-1

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