The Two Paths to Self-Realization

Dr. Jack Hislop was a longtime and beloved devotee of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. He would question Swami deeply on the intricacies of His teachings and then follow them as closely as possible. In this two-part article, he shows us how to follow the paths of wisdom and devotion as per Swami’s advice. The following is a transcription of a talk given by the late Dr. Hislop in The North Central Sai Conference, Camp Ohiyesa, Holly, Michigan in September, 1993.

The Sankaracharya of Kanchi said of the Avatar, “When a person whose conduct in life is filled with goodness and whose heart is filled with compassion and tranquility, people have trust in him the instant they set eyes on him. They adopt his teachings because they trust that the doctrines set forth by such a man cannot be other than sound.” We find Swami to be such a being. His life and conduct are filled with goodness and His heart is filled with compassion and tranquility. The minute we set eyes on Swami, we trust Him, we take His teachings to heart, and we practice them because we think the doctrines set forth by Swami are sound. But what brings us to Him? It has to be something from the long distant past—either a history of spiritual lives, or close associations with embodiments of God in previous lives. Our interest is in liberation and self-realization—that is why we are here.

Why aren’t we all self-realized? What are the obstacles that stand in our path? According to Swami, the obstacles are jealousy, anger, hatred, and the full range of human faults that prevent us from achieving self-realization here and now. We can turn to Swami for help, but how do we get in touch with Him? He is so busy. When we go to Prasanthi Nilayam, we can just see Him in the distance. We can’t catch Him or talk to Him or ask a lot of questions. But we can ask Him in our hearts and in our consciences because Swami is right here with us.

Let me tell you the story of the McDowells to illustrate how He is always with us. The McDowells—father, son, and mother—lived on a small farm in Kentucky several miles away from the nearest town. A new dog had recently appeared at the farm and adopted them. It was the McDowells’ custom to meditate for two hours every afternoon. Once, when it was time for their afternoon meditation, they locked the dog in the garage so they would not be disturbed by his barking. After meditation they emerged to find that the dog had escaped and was at the foot of the stairs barking. The astonished father, not yet a strong devotee, put his hands on his head and said, “It’s got to be Swami.”

Three years later, the family came on its first visit to Swami. When they were called in for an interview, my wife and I were also summoned. In these situations, Swami often says something nice to almost every person just to break the tension. Just before He came to the McDowells, He bent down and whispered quietly to three Indian women sitting in front of them. Mrs. McDowell noticed this and thought, “I bet He said something to them about us.” When the interview was over, she went up to the women and said, “Would you mind sharing with me what Swami whispered to you?” They replied, “He whispered that they think I’m a dog!” This was three years after the actual incident; it was such a minor event, yet Swami knew it exactly. Therefore, when we wonder who will help us to achieve self-realization, we can be assured that Swami will help us. For Swami is with us at all times.

The core question that faces all devotees is, “Who am I?” Swami says until we can answer that question we will not make any genuine progress in our spiritual life. He says that to get to the answer, one can follow one of the two principal paths: the path of devotion or the path of wisdom. He equates the path of devotion to the kitten and its mother. When the cat moves about, she carries the kitten along with her so that the kitten, who relies totally on the mother, is not worried. The path of wisdom, on the other hand, is equated with a baby monkey and its mother. When the mother moves about, she does not worry about carrying her baby with her. The baby has to use his own energy and strength to jump on the mother’s back and hang on for dear life to go along with her. Let us examine both of these paths.

The Path of Wisdom

In the Western world, we are accustomed to understanding things, so let us start with the path of wisdom. The search for the answer to “Who am I?” is as old as man himself. It has its origin in three fundamental human desires: first, we want to know everything without end. We are always inquisitive and want to investigate. Second, we want to be happy and do not want anything to interfere with that happiness. Last, we do not want the happiness to end. Consciously and unconsciously, every person in the world has these three basic desires.

The inquiry “Who am I?” was also my story. As a young lad, I belonged to the Episcopal Church, but it did not make any sense to me. I didn’t know what the goal of a man’s life should be. But I knew that the answer to that query lay somewhere in the world, and even at that early age, I knew my life would be spent searching for the answer. I encountered many yogis and holy people like J. Krishnamurti and Annie Besant. For a short time, I lived with them and traveled all over the world to Krishnamurti camps. Later I encountered Yogananda and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

What is the path of wisdom? What do Swami and the sages have to say about it? Ancient sages such as Vasishta, sages of modern times such Paramahamsa Yogananda, Ramana Maharishi, and Nisargata Maharaj, and avatars [descent of God on earth] such as Krishna and Swami, all say that detachment is vital for success on the path of wisdom. What does the word detachment mean? It means, in terms of self-inquiry, to be disconnected from, or to be the witness of happenings without being involved in them, i.e. to be the unaffected witness. But how can we apply detachment to our daily lives? For example, Hislop might get angry with someone. But who is the witness of that anger? My consciousness is involved; it became angry. Therefore, in order to find out who the witness was without becoming involved, I have to go inward. For example, I know it occurred entirely apart from my consciousness, which was affected in the happening, and also I know it happened. So who knows that I know it happened? Look at that and then see if there is some awareness behind that. In Vedanta [Hindu scriptures] it is called “neti, neti, neti—not that, not that, not that.” Everything is looked at and if it can be observed and put aside, “neti—not that,” that’s not me. It changes, so it can’t be me. Therefore, you move backwards until nothing can be put aside, then you have reached the final realization.

How can that be applied to oneself? For example, here’s Hislop. Hislop is accustomed to being the observer. I, Hislop, observe the world and what is happening in the world so that I can reach common sense conclusions about what is occurring and how to respond. But self-inquiry means that Hislop, who is used to being the observer, now becomes the thing to be observed. There has now to be a watching of Hislop to see what makes Hislop tick. But who is going to be the observer of Hislop? The observer of Hislop is that awareness which is superior to that which is being observed at the moment. Then you observe that awareness and see what lies behind it.

The world and the universe, Swami says, are like a mirage. The water in the mirage does not come from any place nor does it go any place. Similarly, this world does not come out of the absolute nor does it go anywhere. It is like a dream. Now what does this mean? People get vastly confused when they hear that the world is unreal, a dream. It is not that the world does not exist as such, but just that it is constantly changing. The truth is something that is the same before, during, and after any time period—it never changes. One cannot say that about anything in the world. It exists, but is ever-changing. Since it is constantly changing, it is called “non-existent.” We, on the other hand, are looking for the eternal—that which never changes.

So how may one go about that by oneself? I am here now talking to you and that is action. If I want to look beyond the action I am engaged in, I have to find a place and time where I can be quiet and not involved in action. Swami says that that time is found by sitting quietly and letting the breath come slower and slower and slower until the mind is calm. Then you can look at things objectively. When one starts to do that, one realizes that whatever one is doing, the feeling “I am” is there. You do not have to check in a mirror to make sure that you “are.” You know it directly. Start to look into this “I am” and go deeper. When I go deeper and deeper, I come to a point where there is awareness but there is no one aware. I cannot go beyond it. There is just a vast field of awareness without any center of observation or any boundaries whatsoever.

When I look back at myself in my earliest childhood, I realize that I have not changed one iota in terms of this awareness. I am the same. I am the same before an experience, during the experience, and after the experience. When I look at Hislop, it is like standing in a three-story house looking down and observing the people on the street. I am not affected at all because I am way up high, totally separate, just observing. Then I look for Hislop, down on the street walking with the others, and I see no difference between Hislop and the others. I can then start to see what is meant by “I am” and to that point, I find that what I am is pure awareness.

All that is when I am quiet; what about when I am involved in activity? Occasionally I forget to be the observer and get involved, although I quickly recollect myself and realize that nothing that happens is touching me. I am completely separate and have nothing to do with what is happening outside. I am awareness within. Now, is that liberation? Absolutely not, because nothing has to be done to gain liberation. It cannot be gained for it is eternal and ever-present. If it were not eternal, what is the use of searching for it? We are liberated now, this very moment.

What is the chief reason that we do not know that we are liberated? What brings about the ignorance of our true nature? It is the idea that we are a unique unit, separate from God. What did Jesus say? “I am the Son, I am the Father. He who sees Me sees the Father.” So, if you wish to tackle the question of “Who am I?” and if you wish to do as Swami says, you must start to detach yourself. First detach yourself from the completely false idea that you are the body. Your relationship to the body is like your relationship to your shadow. What do the height, color, and career of my shadow matter to me? When I walk, it goes through mud and rubbish or it goes across a flowerbed, but what does that matter to me? It is my shadow. It is there, but I am not the shadow. I am just a witness to the shadow. The body is to our reality as the shadow is to ourselves as we now think ourselves to be.

~To be continued~