Siddhaswarupananda Teachings

The Search for Perfect Wisdom

We need to unite by recognizing our common desire and need for a harmonious society—a society in which we and our children and families and friends and communities can all live our lives in peace and harmony. Regardless of our race or religion, we all want and need such social harmony.

Hatred and conflict are often rooted in differences between people of different races and religions. We all need to respect people of different races as well as people of different faiths and religions.

We need to unite by recognizing our common desire and need for a harmonious society—a society in which we and our children and families and friends and communities can all live our lives in peace and harmony. Regardless of our race or religion, we all want and need such social harmony.

Without respect for people of different races or ethnicities or religions, how can we have a peaceful and harmonious society or world? And without a harmonious society, how can there be the necessary economic development and atmosphere conducive to spiritual happiness and self-realization?

Discovering your Real Identity

Let me ask you a few simple questions: Do you exist at this moment? Did you exist five years ago? Are you your body? Most people would answer “yes” to all three questions. But if you identify your body as yourself, and simultaneously accept that you exist now and also existed five years ago, then you have a problem: The body you had five years ago does not exist today. There is a dynamic turnover of atoms and molecules which make up your body. There isn’t a single particle of matter—not one atom—present in your body today that was present five years ago. The body you have today is not the same body you had five years ago. It’s not that the body you had still exists but has now changed somewhat. No. The body you had is gone. That collection of atoms appearing as flesh, bone, blood, hair, and so on no longer exists. Yet you still exist.

Impersonalism: No-Self

The no-self philosophy allows charlatans to believe (and to persuade others) that they have already gone past the search for enlightenment and successfully come out the other side. It allows them to feel they’ve answered the questions: “Who am I?” and “What is the purpose of my existence?” Their answer is: “I am nothing. I don’t really exist. Therefore there is no purpose.” Since there is no self and no purpose, there is also (so they say) no will. Will power is supposed to be the attribute of the self; but if there is no self, then “will power” is really just an illusion. So is responsibility for one’s actions. Therefore any attempt to use will to control the senses is really a symptom of ignorance. The symptom of enlightenment, on the other hand, is to go with the flow of the body—the urges of the senses—without “hang-ups.”