The spiritual absurdity of self-identity

This is one of the articles in a book I have written on spirituality. The book is available on Amazon.com.


The Spirit Of Spirituality
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In the current world, where everybody says, develop a self-identity, market yourself as a brand, if I say that the very concept of a self-identity is absurd from a spiritual perspective, I am sure I will be branded as absurd! Let me try and build the case.

Let’s start with a factory making electric bulbs. The factory makes bulbs of a variety of types, wattage etc. These bulbs go all around the world. The bulbs become part of various types of lighting appliances. Some are enclosed in beautiful colored and shaped chandeliers, some are in traffic lights, some end up in luxury cars and some end up in poor homes in some underdeveloped country.  The bulb at this point is existent, but by itself has no meaningful existence. Only when electricity flows through it, the bulb lights up, and becomes a light emitting device. So far, so good!

Now, suppose the electric bulbs develop an identity somehow. The bulb in the luxury car could look at the bulb in the poor man’s home and become proud. It could also look at the bulb in a chandelier in Mr. Gate’s house and feel jealous. The bulb in the beautiful hour glass shaped lamp holder could mock at the bulb in the thick dome shaped lamp holder. So the bulbs by developing a sense of identity have created an environment of dualities: good/bad, pretty/ugly, rich/poor. What have they forgotten? They forgot that their essence is light and that essence is provided by the electricity running through them. If they had identified themselves with the electricity, then duality would be dead. Every bulb would know that its essence is really electricity and the electricity running through any bulb is the same as the electricity running in any other bulb and extending further, is the same as the electricity anywhere. Electricity is the enlivening principle that gives life to the bulb converting it into an illuminating object. Without this enlivening principle, a bulb is just a lifeless mass of some components.

Let us take this illustration to ourselves. There is a mass of material which consists of carbon, phosphorus etc. which constitutes our physical body. Just like an electric bulb, this body is just an amalgam of material, which by itself is meaningless without an enlivening principle. This universal enlivening principle is variously called as Consciousness, God, Brahman etc.   Just as electricity is universal and the same electricity is in every bulb, the same enlivening principle when it enters into the amalgam called the physical body illuminates the physical body, which means it breathes life into an inert body. This enlivening principle at the microcosmic level is called the Atman. Readers will realize that just as there is no difference between electricity in bulbs and the universal electric power, there is absolutely no difference between the universal Brahman or God and the individual atman.

But let’s now move to the absurd. Just as the electric bulb identified with the lamp and created a unique identity (traffic light, flood light etc.), the individual identifies with the outer body/mind/intellect and labels himself/herself as pretty/ugly, good/bad, and rich/poor and suffers because of the dualities.  One might argue that we can be very happy being rich or beautiful. I had read an article sometime back in the New York times about “poor billionaires”, those who had 200 feet boats feeling poor looking at someone with a 500 feet boat! Anywhere, there is duality, there is a cycle of happiness and unhappiness. I challenge any of my readers to name a single person who had nothing but happiness all his/her life.

Just as a bulb identified with its outer cover and felt the duality, we by identifying with the outer layer experience the dualities. Does the electricity ever suffer from dualities? Never! It is just an enlivening principle, just a witness, beyond the tug of war of dualities. Similarly, we by forgetting our identity created by identifying with the outer body/mind/intellect will suffer. However if we identify with the enlivening principle, which is the Atman or Brahman, we will be in bliss.  Non-duality is bliss, whereas duality is pain.

I leave the readers now to decide what they want to identify with!

As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.

I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.


1. My Humble Understanding  Of Spirituality


My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality

2. Attain Infinite Bliss

Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide

3. The Spirit Of Spirituality

The Spirit Of Spirituality