Letter # 50: “Who Am I?”

When Lord Rama was a boy, he went to the house of his spiritual teacher, and knocked on the door. Without opening the door, the master called from inside, “Who are you?” Rama gave a startling answer, “Dear Guru, Who am I? That’s what I’m here to ask you.”
That was in a different age or yuga , the Treta Yuga, according to the Vedic scheme of time. Now we’re now in the last of the Vedic ages, the Kali Yuga, but the question, "Who am I?" is more pressing than ever, for this age is the age of escalating corruption and vice.
Kali Yuga is named after the demon Kali, (pronounced kull as in skull), who is the colour of soot, has a large tongue, and gives off a terrible stench. He’s different from the goddess who has a similarly spelt name, Kali, but which is pronounced differently - kaalee.
The demon Kali, rules the present age. He takes up his abode in gambling, women and gold. He ensures that, in his age, in the Kali Yuga, rulers will be unreasonable, will levy unfair taxes, will not see the value of promoting spirituality, and will become a danger to the world. In this age, people will follow false sciences. Relationships will be characterized by animosity, wrath, murderous thoughts, and lust. Teenage pregnancies will be common, as sex will become the raison d’etre. The weak and helpless will be vulnerable to predation. The old will betray the young and vice versa. Spouses will easily find contempt in each other. Vows will be easily broken. Murder in families will be common. Cowards will have the reputation of bravery, and the brave will be falsely deemed as cowardly. Forests and gardens will be destroyed for little or no reason. Respect for animals will diminish and meat eating will be common. People will find their jobs stressful, will go for retreats and holidays, and will become addicted to intoxicants. Gurus or spiritual teachers will be unrespected, and their students will be insubordinate or will even injure their teachers.
Does all this sound too familiar? Please note that the above information is not from the CNN news or articles from any newspaper. It's from ancient spiritual text, from thousands of years ago! It's telling us that when we give too much credence to sensations and the body, when we want to lord it over with ego, and when we mistakenly seek for permanent happiness in material success and riches, which are always temporary, we suffer. Is this what we truly want? Is this who we really are?
The word who is related to the Hebrew word hayah which means "the one who is, the existing." Who is also related to the Hu in the Islamic holy phrase about God’s supremacy - Allah Hu Akbar. In Exodus 3:14, God says to Moses: "I am who I am.”
We humans are spirit souls, and parts of that Creator, just as sparks are a part of a fire, and as sparkles of sunlight on waves are part of the sun. We are living sparks, spirit souls. Spirit souls deserve to live in the blissful abode of the Creator, and not be lapped up by the huge tongue of the demon Kali.
But how do you escape from the clutches of the monstrous demon Kali? You do it by remembering to think of the abode of the Creator, by hearing or reading about it, by praying or meditating about it, or by imagination. Guru Nanak says that this age, the Kali Yuga, is the best of all ages because it puts the responsibility on each individual to run from the demon Kali and to seek the Saviour. Once you take on that responsibility seriously, you will escape from the abode of Kali to the abode of spirituality, which is the only abode that offers permanent bliss.
Yesterday, I was flicking through a book on material success. The the main principles in it, in my view, were three - imagination, planning, and persistence. While material success is temporary and often selfish, and is trumped by ever-lurking death, the three basic principles of sucess can equally be applied to spiritual success. Lord Krishna says, “From the highest planet in the material world (read 'unlimited material success') down to the lowest, all are places of misery, wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again (read 'but stays in the abode of spiritual bliss)'.” BG 8:16.
The attainment of the spiritual abode requires imagination, planning, and persistence. We must get to that abode, for there lies the answer to the ultimate question: "Who am I?"

God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.

I wish to express my gratitude for your comments, which inspire me to carry on writing. Please forgive my fallibilities in presenting this material. Also, feel free to send this message on to someone that you might think would like to receive it. If you do send it on, my only request of you is that you send it as it is, in its entirety, and to not alter or modify any of the text, references or authorship information. Thus you will help to give credit or liability to where they are properly due.
Jas Bhopal
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“Practicing goodwill makes for a good life."

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References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" (As translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" by Srila Prabhupada (ISBN 0-89213-268-X); "I Am That" Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.