Can the Truth of the Self Be Explained or Must It Be Experienced?ஆத்மாவின் உண்மையை வார்த்தைகளால் விளக்க முடியுமா, அல்லது அது அனுபவிக்கப்பட வேண்டியதா?

In the 12th Velvi discourse, Gurumahan teaches that Self-realization dawns when the ego dies. This “death” refers to the ending of one’s false identification with the body, mind, and intellect, leading to eternal life.

To help one attain the state called Moksha, the first step is to reveal the truth of who you really are. What is this Universe? What is the individual soul (Jiva)? What is Shiva? That is why the great teaching “Tat Tvam Asi” - Thou art That is given. Next comes the understanding of the meaning contained in this Mahavakya, Tat Tvam Asi (அது நீ). Then arises the question of happiness. What is happiness? The mind moves outward through the five senses, searching for sensory pleasures like taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight. We call them minor or fleeting pleasures. How long can you keep listening to satsang? Perhaps for ten minutes. After that, the mind seeks something else. What begins to ask then?
Is it not the mouth that asks? Yet we often say the stomach is asking. There is only a certain limit up to which things can be explained. Beyond that, nothing more can truly be said. One cannot go on speaking endlessly about God. Even if we speak about other things, we often end up describing what does not truly exist. What benefit is there in that? Only those who have seen truly know. Those who merely hear about it do not fully know. People say that only the one who experiences understands. If you speak about sugar, only the person who tastes it knows its sweetness. Likewise, if one speaks about God, only through direct experience can it truly be known. If we merely keep talking about it, when will we actually realise it? Can this be known through the senses?
No, it cannot. These are only the five senses.
Take an example: we can show someone a laddu. But can we show sweetness itself? If someone asks, “How was the sweetness?” what can we say? We simply reply, “It was very good.”
If they ask again, we repeat the same thing “It was very good.” But how exactly was it?
We cannot truly describe it. It can only be experienced, not explained. The same happens when you watch a movie. Someone asks, “How was it?” You say, “It was wonderful!” But can you actually show them that experience? Can you act exactly like the actor in the film and make them feel it? What do you finally tell them? “You go and watch the film yourself. Only then will you know.”
If we merely analyse it with words, the real experience cannot be grasped. We cannot even show a simple taste to the eyes. When that is so, how can we show that which exists beyond the five senses? That which lies beyond the senses must be realised inwardly. That awareness is called True Realisation (MeiUnarvu). It is Divine Awareness, Brahman. That alone is eternal.
When life departs from the body, the body still remains. Everything else remains. Atma is no longer there. In yoga, one must inwardly experience such a state, as though witnessing one's own death. Once a seeker approached the Guru and said, “Master, grant me the wisdom to realise Brahman.” The Guru replied, “Then you must die.” He did not mean the death of the body, but the ending of the false identity with body, mind, and intellect.
Just as Jesus Christ taught that a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die to bear much fruit, the ego must dissolve for true life to arise.

Let Wisdom Flourish!
Let Peace Prevail!
Let us protect Mother earth!
Let us protect the Universe!

Santhosam

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