Recognising the Self-Realised

Intellect and Heart

One makes the mistake of trying to understand the Enlightened through his limited intellect. His intellect is biased and prejudiced. He has certain fixed opinions regarding the behaviour of an Enlightened One. He has such deep-rooted notions about the behaviour of an Enlightened Being that he is not able to recognise Him. He first makes an image and then goes out in search of the Enlightened One. His image precedes his search for the Enlightened. And so he either does not find the Realised One at all or finds someone who only echoes the image of his belief regarding an Enlightened One. The identification of the Enlightened One must happen from the heart. A heart overflowing with love for the truth does not pass judgements. It seeks, it ventures in search of the unknown and the unfamiliar. An object in front of a mirror is reflected exactly as it is, similarly the purity of the Enlightened is reflected in a seeker’s unbiased, love-filled heart.

The seeker comes in direct contact with the purity of the Enlightened One because his heart is empty of concepts and prejudices. On the other hand, the prejudiced mind, because of its bias, remains untouched by the purity of the Enlightened Being. His own concepts prove to be obstacles for him.

The seeker’s attention is focused within. He is constantly examining his thoughts. He is aware that many times, his external behaviour is not in accordance with his inner feelings. Outwardly, he may be smiling, showing fearlessness whereas within, he may be very scared. This shows that there is no direct correlation between the internal feelings and external actions. Knowing this well, he is able to understand both, the Enlightened One’s external activities of apparent indulgence and His inner state of non-attachment. Thus, the recognition of the Enlightened One becomes easy when virtues such as inner yearning for liberation and the like are born.

If one remains outwardly focused, he can not turn within. Moreover, by giving importance to external circumstances, deep within, he starts expecting a fixed set of circumstances for the Enlightened One. Thus, unable to recognise the Enlightened One whose external circumstances are driven by the strange ways of destiny, he may even start criticising Him and cause tremendous harm to himself.

A Prejudiced Mind

An international seminar of J. Krishnamurti was once hosted in Holland. Several thousand people from across the world had gathered to attend it. Amongst the eager audience were three ladies from India. A day prior to the seminar, they saw Krishnamurti in a shop buying a necktie. This sight upset two of the ladies as they exclaimed, “How can a great Master like Krishnamurti go shopping for a tie! If he does such things, what is so special about him?” Their mind doubted and their faith was shattered. They regretted the journey all the way from India to listen to an ‘ordinary’ person. For them, an Enlightened One is a detached soul who is not interested in activities like shopping. Thus overcome with remorse, the two ladies returned to India the very next day. The third lady was not biased. She was devoted to the Truth. She attended the seminar, heard Krishnamurti and reflected upon what she heard. At the end of the seminar, she said to him, “Your tie caused a great loss!” Having heard the story, Krishnamurti said, “Does that mean that if I do not buy a tie, I will become a great master? To become great if one has to fulfil such a petty condition, then there are so many ordinary, ignorant people who can fulfil it. I do not wish to become great in this way. If those two ladies were willing to accept me as a great man only if I fulfilled such a petty condition, then it is good that they left.”

We are not able to love the Enlightened Ones because of our deeply ingrained concepts. Let alone the Enlightened, we are not able to love even ordinary people! A wife is not able to truly love her husband because her concepts about how a husband should behave, are very strong. A husband cannot truly love his wife but his concepts regarding how a wife should behave, too are strong.

Concepts

We are ready to accept an Enlightened One as Enlightened, only when His actions are in accordance with our concepts. One may somehow find an Enlightened One who matches his concepts and even become His staunch follower. However, this too is not love for the Enlightened Being; it just shows his love for his own concepts. Moreover, he does not have love for any other Enlightened Being apart from this One. Let alone love, he may sometimes even harbour aversion. Because he is bound by an attachment for one, his love becomes impure. Where there is love for one and lack of love for others, it will not last. If there is a drop of love along with an ocean of aversion, how long can that love last? Therefore, even his love will eventually take the form of aversion.

If your heart is filled with love, then it is not possible to harbour aversion towards anyone. Regardless of whether the other person is ordinary or extraordinary; you will exude only love for him. Just as a flower blossoming on the roadside spreads fragrance irrespective of whether the passer-by is a beggar, an emperor; an enemy, a friend; a man or a woman. In fact it spreads its fragrance, even if no one walks past. To spread fragrance is its nature. In the same way, when love becomes our nature, it flows towards everyone. But when love is confined to just one, it becomes attachment, leading to an attraction towards one and aversion towards others, thus plaguing the heart with likes and dislikes. But when love is genuine, it spreads everywhere. True love for one dissolves the ego, and becomes the gateway of love for all.

When there is attachment for one, there is aversion towards others. You run after the one to whom you are attached. To run after someone is to run ‘outside’. In this way you can not go within. To abide in the Self you will have to turn within. When you develop love for all, running around becomes impossible, and you become steady within. When attached to one, wandering outside becomes your fate. But when you are devoted to truth you dive within and realise your own True Self.

You Find What You Seek

An aspirant is one who is tormented by the deluding attachments and is striving for nothing but liberation alone. The yearning soul has felt the need within and so his eyes are searching for the Liberated One. These seeking eyes enable him to recognise such a Being. One sees in the other, what one is looking for.

A poet once lost his way while walking along a path. All day, he did not find any food. He was famished, but continued walking till nightfall. He looked up towards the sky and saw the full moon. That day, the moon did not seem to reflect the charming face of his beloved, rather it appeared to be a round piece of bread. He felt that bread was floating in the air. Just as the moon was the same but the perception changed due to hunger, similarly, the Enlightened Being is the same, but the yearning for liberation enables one to correctly identify Him.

The Seeker is Great too!

Undoubtedly the Realised Ones are great, but the seeker too is praiseworthy as he is able to recognise the Great Ones. When someone praises the beauty of a flower, along with knowledge about flowers, it also reveals his own inner beauty that allowed him to experience the loveliness of the flower. One who has an eye for beauty can spot even a roadside flower, which would otherwise go unnoticed by an ordinary passer-by.

Therefore, a seeker is compared to a pregnant lady. Externally, it is difficult to tell a lady who has recently conceived from one who has not. However she is nourishing her child and in a short time, she will even deliver the baby. In the same way, the seeker is a lover of Truth. He has true love for the Enlightened One. This love is being nourished within, and at some blessed moment, he too will attain the fruit of self-realisation.

The one who realises the significance of the inner state of the Enlightened Being is an aspirant. To him, true recognition comes about, real devotion arises, and inner purity ensues. As a result of this, his wandering comes to an end. Thus, with true identification of the Realised One, the purpose of life is fulfilled.

May all beings give up their search for external happiness and become devoted to the inner light of consciousness.

May all approach the Enlightened Being with open-mindedness and a yearning for liberation, and in His association, recognise His inner state. May all, by His blessings, manifest within themselves, that same state.