13 hours ago
- General
- New Indian Express
Becoming Who You Really Are
Yad bhavam tad bhavati (as you think, so you become) is a famous verse from the Upanisads. It is so simple, yet so profound. Can we actually become whatever we think and believe, or is it about thinking right, so we become what we actually are? This could be true both ways, because we naturally want to think the best about ourselves, and in truth, we are indeed the best of the best.
'Aham brahmasmi' (I am Divine) is the declaration of Indian spirituality. Can there be a better affirmation than this to indicate how glorious, pure and powerful our existence is? Sri Adi Shankaracharya says in the Nirvana Shatkam—cidananda rupah sivoham sivoham, which means, 'I am the Blissful Consciousness, I am Divine.'
By staying in this awareness of divinity constantly, we would become divine. This is the only worthy manifestation that we must aspire for.
The Cub and the Sheep Blooper
There is this famous blooper of the cub and the sheep, which is a tale of truth with a funny twist. A small cub got lost in a herd of sheep and grew up believing that it was also a sheep. It would eat grass and bleat like a sheep, and thus it became one among the herd of sheep. One day, a lion came into their territory, and all the sheep bleated in fear. They started running hither and thither out of fear for their lives. This was when the lion noticed that a cub was living with the sheep. He was shocked, and so he caught the cub and asked him, 'What are you doing in this herd of sheep?' The lion cub replied with confidence, 'I am a sheep; I have been leading my life with my fellow sheep. I can bleat and I can eat grass.' The lion roared, 'No, you are not a sheep, you are a lion.' But the cub couldn't believe this.
