Knowledge is acquired in two ways: through understanding and through experience. Understanding operates within the intellect and is therefore limited. Experience, however, can transcend the mind, merging us with the Universal. The highest form of knowledge arises when experience and understanding merge—when we directly encounter and deeply comprehend the truth. To live in truth is to awaken to the awareness of Aham Brahmasmi—I am That.
‘That’ is the Absolute, the bliss-consciousness that is the essence of all existence. It is the true Self. And ultimately, there is only one Self—God.
Most of us live in a reality shaped by our mind. We tell ourselves; I am happy or sad, beautiful or plain, intelligent or ignorant, rich or poor, better than or worse than. But these are only mental labels, constructed identities, not truths. We mistake our thoughts, emotions, and physical form for our identity—attached to them through the ego. We live our lives outwardly focused, pursuing the senses. In doing so, we obscure and veil the deeper reality: the Absolute bliss-consciousness that is our true nature.
Saint Kabir once said, referring to the veil traditionally worn by Muslim women, “Remove the veil. Then you will see your own Beloved.” In the same way, we wear a veil—not of cloth, but of ignorance we ourselves have woven. To know who we truly are, we must lift this veil and behold the light within.
Ignorant understanding is bondage—it is infatuation and illusion, the root of our suffering. It is the false perception, the misidentification, standing between us and truth. But when we come to know the inner Self—the presence of God within—we dissolve this false understanding and awaken to supreme knowledge: I am That.
Through meditation, we come into direct contact with our true Self: the all-pervasive Awareness, the very consciousness that is God. As the Bhagavad Gita teaches, the fire of knowledge ignited in meditation consumes the karmas accumulated over countless lifetimes. It continues: the Self is never born, nor does it ever die; it has never come into being, and it will never cease to be. It is unborn, eternal, everlasting, and ancient. It is not slain when the body is slain.
This knowledge does not come from outside; it arises from the experience and understanding we gain when we go within. And when the supreme experience dawns, we no longer see ourselves as limited beings—we recognize ourselves as Divine.
Blessings,
