The Only Worthy Knowledge

Sri Lakshmana Swamy

Humbleness has to be there in a sadhaka. Be humble. Have faith. Have faith in the Guru and have faith in yourself. Have faith because the Self is beyond words and beyond the mind. It is indestructible; even an atom bomb cannot destroy the Self. It is all-pervading and beyond the categories of birth and death. There is only the Self and nothing else. There is nothing apart from it. It is one without a second.

To know the Self is the only worthy knowledge. To experience the Self as it really is it is essential that the mind be kept still, by all means. For spiritual practice you only have to remain without thoughts. This is not for the realization of the Self because the Self is ever-realized. Be without thoughts, be still, and you will find out what you really are.

The best way of getting rid of all thoughts is by holding on to the I-thought. It is like a string which threads all the other thoughts together. If you eliminate the I-thought, then all other thoughts are eliminated. If you keep out all other thoughts and hold on to the I-thought alone you will find the Self within will start to pull the I back to its source, the Heart.

This is as far as the devotee can go by himself. No further progress can be made without the grace of the Guru. Guru, grace and Self are all the same. They are all within you and everywhere around you. When you reach these states the grace of the Guru will take over and help you towards the goal.