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Who Am I: The Fundamental Question in Indian Spirituality
But hold on! We receive our name a few days after birth. Who was I in those few days?
After thinking for a while we might say- "This body." But then why do we say "He is no more" while the body is still here? Or why do I even refer to it as "my body"? Who am I and to whom this body belongs? Moreover, most of its cells replace themselves within a few days to a few years. On a physical level I'm no more the same person I was just a few years ago. Yet am I not the same person?
This is where the fundamental spiritual question in Indian spirituality leads us to.
Who Am I: Body Or Mind?
Now
we
start
to
think
harder-
"I'm
the
one
who
does
the
thinking.
I'm
the
mind
within
this
body."
What
is
the
mind?
It
consists
of
all
my
ideas,
thoughts,
emotions,
desires
and
memories
that
get
altered
every
time
I
experience
something
new.
When
I
reflect
upon
my
mind
I
realize
that
it
is
nothing
else
but
a
stream
of
thoughts
which
are
constantly
changing
like
the
water
of
a
river.
Am
I
this
constantly
flowing
stream
of
ideas?
Am
I
a
mere
accumulation
of
these
little
bits
and
pieces:
cells
in
the
physical
world
and
ideas
in
the
mental
world?
Who Am I? A Consciousness?
As we delve deeper into our mind and reach its center, we find something radically different from this entire collection of cells and ideas that we know so well. It is the Conscious Witness (sakshi) present within each one of us. It is the inner Light that enlightens my mental world, and the life force that enlivens and animates my body. It is a mystery because it cannot be understood objectively. "With what may I know the knower?" (Yajur Vedic Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.4.14) - This dilemma has puzzled the Indian sages since millenniums. It can only be felt or experienced subjectively. One can know that "it is", but cannot know "what it is". But even just to become aware of this inner mystery is a life-transforming experience...
Therefore, the seeds of Indian spirituality lie within this fundamental question - "Who am I?" probably first asked by Rishi Mahi Dasa Aitareya, the seer of the Rig Vedic Aitareya Upanishad (1.3.11).
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