In his article in Cosmic Uplink, K Vijayaraghavan elaborates three types of persons. One is Manmukhi, who listens to only what his mind tells him, without a thorough contemplation and without paying attention to possible minute ramifications of his deed. His mind is unstable, volatile and therefore devoid of wisdom. Epicurean and hedonistic mindset drives his life. There is only a False Sense of I residing in him. Many persons initially fall in this category. We call such people selfish.
Second is Gurumukhi, who blindly listens to what his Guru says. He doesn’t apply his mind and is completely surrendered to his Guru. This person starts his path towards ascension for he has enough readiness parameters like surrender, no fear, and acceptance, which act as agents of progress in his spiritual life. It is by virtue of his pure will to be liberated, that he gets a Guru. True learning is possible if the student shows his readiness and desire to learn. The famous Buddhism quote says “When the student is ready Teacher appears!”. He doesn’t have even a mote of fear for he completely believes his Guru. He accepts the situation instantly as it is. Guru then shows him the path of light. Disciple Kalyan is the example of Gurumukhi. He blindly jumped off from a high cliff just because it was his Guru Ramdas swami’s will!
Third is Atmamukhi, who not only assesses his view but also views of others while arriving at the most appropriate decision which ought to be right. As Rudyard Kipling says in his immortal poem “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too”, This person by natural and scientific process does only the right things (Yogah karmasu kaushalam – Do it right the first time). He keeps his self away while arriving at the right action, yet he has a sense of responsibility for whatever he does. He readily accepts the situation as it is. Also he has no fear. He is not affected in either way by others’ opinions about anything. He has a True sense of I and hence he naturally follows the path towards ascension. Vijayaraghavan gives the example of Bharata, brother of Rama, as an example of Atmamukhi. Though his Gurus as well as Rama tell him to get coronated, he carries Rama’s paduka with him and keeps those on the throne.
Shri Aurobindo Ghosh, in a similar manner, espouses three stages of sadhaka. In first stage, sadhaka thinks he does the things for God. He considers himself the doer and hence the servant of the God.
In second stage, sadhaka considers himself to be an instrument of God. He then thinks he is the medium through which God acts.
In the last stage, there’s no difference between the sadhakaand the God. Sadhaka considers himself God and sees nothing different than True sense of I (Aham brahmasmi).
It’s really difficult to rise to the level to actually possess that True sense of I. We may feel we now possess it. But that great feeling is often easily imparted by our dominant False sense of I, popularly known as Ego!
Reinvent The Self! 