We are constantly faced with choices throughout our lives. There are smaller choices like what flavor of jam to buy and larger choices like what will be the focus for our lives. Sometimes we can become so overwhelmed by the amount of choices we face, or the possible consequences of these choices, that we become confused and don’t know what to do. We want always to be making the choices which will lead us to happiness, peace, and fulfillment, but when our minds and hearts are so conflicted and bewildered that we cannot clearly see the best path, what can we do? How can gain the clarity we need to navigate the choices in our lives for the happiest possible outcome?
The key to success is in knowing who we are. If we know very clearly who we are, and thus what our true purpose is, we will naturally be able to discern what is the best and happiest path for us.
So who are we?
When asked to describe our self, most of us will immediately look to the features of our body and mind. I am a woman or a man, with this color hair and eyes, a particular body type, age, ethnicity, social class, economic status, and occupation. I am artistic, intellectual, clever, witty, energetic, ambitious, creative, generous, easygoing, passionate. But all of these labels are not who we really are. They may be characteristics of the mind and body that we currently possess – but they are not who we are.
According to the ancient yoga scriptures and other bona fide scriptures of the world, we are not the material body or the mind – we are eternal spiritual beings temporarily wearing the material mind and body. The gross physical body can be compared to outer clothes and the mind or subtle energy body can be compared to under clothes. Just as we are not the clothes we are wearing, we are not the material bodies we are wearing either.
When we erroneously take our self to be the body and mind that we are wearing, then we unknowingly put ourselves in a position of inevitable misunderstanding. We will believe that we are basing our choices upon who we are, but in actuality, we will be basing our choices on the “clothes” we are wearing. We will strive to fulfill the demands of our mind and senses, mistakenly thinking that this will bring us the deep and lasting happiness that we long for, but it never does. We may experience some superficial physical, mental or emotional pleasure, but it is fleeting, at best. It never lasts and never fills the emptiness in the core of our hearts. When the foundation which we base everything in our lives upon – our understanding of who we are – is faulty, nothing about our lives can be rightly understood. So no matter how strenuously or diligently we strive for clarity, for happiness, for fulfillment, they will remain always just beyond our reach.
Because we are not the material mind and body, we cannot find true happiness and satisfaction in treating them as the foundation of our lives. This is not any more possible than treating the pants, shirt, underwear, etc. that we are wearing at this moment as the foundation of our lives.
In order to be permanently situated in happiness, we need to fully understand the actual foundation of our lives – our eternal identity as spiritual beings. We have innate spiritual tendencies and qualities, but they have become covered through misidentifying with the mind and body. By engaging in a genuine process of spiritual realization in direct association with our spiritual Source, our consciousness can become purified. As the material influence on our consciousness is dissipated, our true nature – our spiritual nature – becomes revealed.
In the ancient yoga system, the recommended method for spiritual realization and consciously linking up with our spiritual Source is mantra meditation. A true mantra is not something anyone makes up. It is the Absolute Truth in sound vibration. This spiritual sound vibration descends from the spiritual platform to the material world without losing any of its potency. In mantra meditation, a person hears and chants or sings this spiritual sound and thus is directly relating with the Supreme. This has a profound purifying effect on our consciousness.
Through mantra meditation, we begin to taste the sweetness of spiritual happiness – and with sincere, daily practice, our hearts and minds are gradually purified of material misconceptions. As it becomes increasingly clear to us who we are and thus what our true purpose is, it becomes increasingly simple for us to discern what is actually in our best interest and what is not. The clarity we gain through mantra meditation allows us to steadily navigate our life in a way which brings us into an ever greater and deeper state of happiness and fulfillment.
The confusion that comes from mistaking ourselves for the material mind and body can only be cleared completely through engaging in a bona fide method of spiritual realization. Although many different processes are employed in the whole of the ancient yoga system, mantra meditation is the most essential and recommended method for this day and age. It is the only yogic method of spiritual realization that is practical for people to follow in modern times because it is so simple and easily accessible to any person. We do not need to have any special qualifications or skills. Simply through engaging in mantra meditation daily, motivated by the sincere desire to realize our true nature, we will find ourselves steadily transitioning from the darkness of material confusion into the clear and joyful light of spiritual realization.
For more information on specific types of yoga Mantra Meditation, simply click on the links below:
Here are some quotes on Clarity to inspire you:
For me the greatest beauty always lies in the greatest clarity.
― Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
That inner voice has both gentleness and clarity. So to get to authenticity, you really keep going down to the bone, to the honesty, and the inevitability of something.
― Meredith Monk
In the kingdom of glass everything is transparent, and there is no place to hide a dark heart.
― Vera Nazarian
When people will not weed their own minds, they are apt to be overrun by nettles.
― Horace Walpole
Clarity is the most important thing. I can compare clarity to pruning in gardening. You know, you need to be clear. If you are not clear, nothing is going to happen. You have to be clear.
― Diane von Furstenberg