Self-realization

Who am I?

What is my place in the universe? 

What is the purpose of my insignificant presence in this vast Universe?

        These questions have occupied human mind since the origin of its presence on planet Earth. Quest for the true identity, its rightful place in the Universe and the genuine purpose of existence has set the human mind on a journey to self-realization. Intellectuals from the revolutionary Axil age to the modern-day 21st Century intelligentsia have been trying to find the answers of enigmatic quests.

       Search for the self-realization or an “authentic self” began with the evolution of human mind.  Axil age, from 800 BC to 200 BC, is considered the prime era to embark on a journey of self-finding. During this period revolutionary thinkers were emerging all over the world, particularly in Greece, India, Persia, China and Occident. 

Nosce te ipsum (Know thyself)

       This aphorism was uttered by Greeks of Axil age, about twenty-five hundred years ago and was written on the forecourt of Apollo at Delphi (a town in the south Central part of Greece).

 Greek philosopher Plato claimed,

 ”The essence of knowledge is self-knowledge,”

   About the same time in the farthest corner of India, a spiritual sage named Siddhatta Gotama set on a spiritual journey to seek enlightenment. He pointed to the inherent possibility of attaining awakening and explained that

 “Reality is an undivided whole; awakening is the realization to this whole".

     Gotama believed that he had woken up to a truth that was engraved in the deepest structure of our existence. By discovering this truth, he had become enlightened and awakened one.

      In the Gospel of Judas Jesus proclaimed "salvation through knowledge, the self-knowledge of divine light within". In the Gospel of Judas, the word gnosis is used twice (50, 54).  “The knowledge claimed by these people (Gnostics) is not worldly knowledge but mystical knowledge, knowledge of God and self and the relationship between God and self".

               About five hundred years later, in the vastness of Meccan desert, a merchant named Mohammad (PBUH) became blessed with the divine revelation and was chosen to spread the message to the humanity. He once again drew our attention to the self-knowledge and nearness to the creator. In one of the tradition prophet Mohammad (PBUH) explained,

“Man Arafa nafsahu arafa rabbahu”

(Whosoever knows himself knows his lord).

   Sufism, an inner mystical dimension of Islam, places great emphasis on the word Ma’rifa (gnosis) which means cognition. In this context, Ma'rifa means self-knowledge that leads to the knowing of ultimate reality.

Sufism defines self-realization,

“Self-realization means to know one’s true being, to know the purpose of one’s life, and to know how to accomplish that purpose” 

   Sheikh-al-Akbar, Ibn-al Arabi, in his prolific work "Fosus al hekam", discusses the important concept of Insan-e Kamil or a perfect human being.

“A perfect human being is a person who has pure consciousness and has achieved his/her true identity”.

            Guru Nanak (1469-1539), Spiritual thinker and the founder of the Sikh religion, expressed his thoughts on self-realization,

"Those who realize their self get immersed into the Lord Himself".

       Search for the true-self is ingrained in our essence and will continue to grow with the evolution of human mind. Though it originated in the primitive brain but has continued to cultivate and breed in the thoughts and beliefs of the modern scientific man.