Pilgrimage to Self Page 13 by Jinendra Swami Copyright 1999 Jinendra Swami. Jinendra Swami welcomes all queries from genuine seekers. His email address is jinendra@yahoo.com. His website is here.   Contents     Back     Next

Springboard to Unknown

Life is the springboard to Unknown 
In life's arena the contenders are only two 
Myself and death
Death is to know, I was not born
'Moksha' or  'Nirvana' or  'Mukti'
    is also to know, I was not born

When I see others die
I infer my own death too 
Isn't that how I have formed a conviction
  that I live temporarily too?

Can anyone choose his body's death? 

Outwardly you perceive
The time and cause of body's death
  to be in many varied forms
Look, Ramana Maharshi, Ramakrishna Paramahansa 
  Vivekanand and so many other enlightened ones 
Had a diseased body when they left this world
Jesus, Buddha, Mahavira also died differently 
Then why worry  
When and how my own death comes ?

Realize this fact
It matters not who I am now 
I cannot choose 
The time and form of my body's death   

Birth and death are two end-points 
Can 'one unborn' now know what's life after birth? 
How can 'one born' now know what's life after death?

Between birth and death
I am sure of one thing 'I exist'
  and this I  is same from birth to now 
That 'I am',  I know
But what or who I am? -- I don't know 
Why not find out?

Sleep and death both have a similarity 
Both in sleep and death
One experiences no body and no world 
Awakening from sleep, I take on the same body 
Awakening from death, do I take on 'New' body?

Birth guarantees death
So why worry about the inevitable death
Do you know anything about 'Life'? 
Is my 'existence' just this life?

First focus on 'Life' 
And when 'Life' is Known 
Death will also be Known

Life is the springboard to Unknown 
But can knowledge of atoms and genes 
Of cosmos and our own universe 
Enable me to commune with the 'Source'? 
It's as foolish to think, that by reading of water 
I can quench my thirst   

When I am conscious and aware 
-- The same I  is a self-experience undeniable
-- The same I is there within me, at any time and place 
Isn't Peeping into myself the only way
   to  find Truth of I that is within ?
Find I
-- I  that's free from all internal and external influences 
-- I that exists by itself, ever present, and changeless 
When the I is known, the secret of 'Life' is unfolded
And one realizes 'That' which brings Liberation

With Awareness
As I unravel my own 'pre-conscious' 
I come closer and closer to my-Self 
Then unexpectedly there is Awareness alone
In a flash -- The Self is Known
Now there is Only One Consciousness

One Consciousness is a Fact
Now there is no higher, no lower 
No me, nor them, not this, nor that 
No birth, no death 
So why talk about death  
  when you know nothing of Life? 
Life is the only path to Unknown 
Life is the springboard to Unknown

Be aware and perceive rightly
Then the words come alive and become meaningful
If not, they are like writings on water 
Soon to disappear into meaninglessness!!   

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