An extract from The Liberating Truth

Take a small child to a gallery of wax sculptures, a child who doesn't know about wax. The child looks at the forms of all those people, those kings and queens, heroes and villains, famous figures, some attractive, some fearsome. At first the child may think: 'All these people here - why don't they move? Why are they still and silent?' Then the mother points out: 'My child, all these forms are essentially wax. What you see is wax. All the forms you see are moulded of wax, superimposed on wax. The underlying reality is wax only. Enjoy the forms, the colours, the workmanship - but know that the underlying reality is wax, nothing but wax.'

Yoga teaches: In whatever you see or experience, there is a deeper reality behind and within the form, which is One and only One in all. Everything is a phenomenal appearance of that reality. But know that this reality, unlike the wax, is not lifeless, nor is it material. It is spiritual and it is the source of all life. Its nature is pure being, consciousness absolute and bliss. The process of Yoga is to awaken our faculty of insight, of spiritual penetration, so that we may know ourselves to be one with that changeless divine reality that is apparently veiled by the changing forms of the universe. We first find that reality in ourselves, as our true I - that which abides unchanged behind the movements in our mind, and is the constant light of awareness.

This Truth is universal. It is the true nature of all experience. Every human being has an innate urge for transcendence. None of us loves limitations; we want to be free. The supreme science is that which will help us to view our worldly life in the light of a spiritual under-standing, and to know that whatever parts we have to play on this world stage, there is always a deeper reality in us that is ever free and is not affected, disturbed or influenced by the changes that take place in our life. There is a Tibetan saying:

The science which teaches arts and handicrafts Is merely a science for the gaining of a living; But the science which teaches deliverance from worldly existence, Is that not the true science?

What is man if he is confined within his transient individuality? We remember the fable of Aesop. A fly alighted on one of the horns of a bull and sat there for a while. After a good rest, it said to the bull, 'Do you mind if I go away now?' The bull looked up without interest. 'It's all the same to me. I didn't notice when you came and I won't notice when you leave.'

The real security and significance - the complete security and infinite significance - lies not in our personality but in the deeper pure spiritual Self that underlies it. It is only by uncovering our divinity that we will find true peace, certainty and perfection.

Although close at hand, because it is the ground of everything, the divinity and unique glory of our innermost Self seems to be far away, something quite different to what we are as struggling human beings, and even an impossible fantasy - in other words, not the Truth. The Greek philosopher, Democritus, is supposed to have said: 'Truth lies hidden at the bottom of a deep well.' There is a Chinese legend that the dragon keeps the jewel of Truth under his chin, and guards it in a cave in the depths of the sea.

Such ideas make Truth seem remote and inaccessible. But the spiritual masters of all religions proclaim that Truth is not distant from us. This is why Jesus said: 'And ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free.' Being our true Self, it is exceedingly close at hand. 'Nearer is He than breathing, closer than hands or feet.' The Bible, the Koran, as well as the scriptures of India, all speak of the intrinsic divinity of man. In his Song of Meditation, the Zen master Hakuin expresses the Truth directly.

All beings are from the very beginning Buddhas. It is like water and ice: Apart from water, no ice; Outside living beings, no Buddhas.... Not knowing it is near, they seek it afar - What a pity.... It is like one in the water who cries out for thirst. It is like the child of a rich house who has strayed away among the poor.

Then, is Truth known or unknown to us? The fact is: Truth is more than known. The sage, Shri Shankara, points this out when he asks:

How can Brahman [the Supreme Reality or God] be unknown to any? It is the support of the I. Yet it is not realizable to the unenquiring, to those of uncontrolled nature, who are remaining far off from the teacher.

Truth is the nature of our own immediate consciousness, apparently concealed by the mind's activities and functions. It is that light of continuous inner awareness through which we know our thoughts, and which makes conscious experience possible. It is as near as that...