Gods came back and did a lot of thinking. It could be the mind; it could be the mind, thought gods. Every time the reply was the same,"thou art that! Find thyself". Then gods meditated and meditated and realization dawned upon them that they were All Existent, All Knowledge and All Bliss. The Self was beyond all thoughts, one without birth or death whom sword cannot pierce or fire burn, whom the air cannot dry or water melt, without the beginning and endless, the immovable and intangible, the omniscient, the omnipotent Being__ that it was neither body nor the mind, but beyond them all. So the sage said, "Thou art that! You have found yourself".
When we love our own true Self, we shall realize that "I and my father are one ". Gods could understand what is meant by "Thou art that! "But the poor demons did not get the truth, owing to the fondness of the body.
We know the Old Persian poem translated into English:-
I came to see my beloved. The door was locked. I knocked and a voice came from inside, "who art thou?" "I am so and so". The door was not opened. A second time I came and knocked. I was asked the same question and I gave the same answer. The door opened not. I came a third time and the same question came. I answered, "I am thou. My love" and the door opened.
Gurudev Shri Vishvas Ji recites:-
अपनी न की तलाश बड़ी चूक ये हुई
बरसों किये खराब, खुदा तलाश में हमने
That Self, that GOD, whom we were searching in this heaven or that hell, in hills or forests, dwells in our innermost shrine of heart - nay I Am He and so I must love my own Self. I am Thou - there is no separation. There are three different ways of remembering Self:-
1. Tassya Vaham "I am His" as He is somewhere away from Me. He is in third person.
2. Tvaivaham "I am yours" as He is present in front of you. He is in the second person.
3. Twame Vaham "I am Thou". There is no separation here.
Huge adamantine wall of obstinate mind stands between us and self. That is the thick curtain between us and Him. If that wall is razed, that curtain is removed permanently; the Self worthy of our true love is shining within the innermost realms of ourselves. So when we say, "Love thy own Self", we do not mean the ego, the restless mind, the selfish pony self but the Self which is All Existent, All Knowledge and All Bliss. The curtain has not to be slipped temporarily but removed permanently. As the moss moved from the lake comes back again, so the moss has to be removed from the surface of the lake. The only way for removing the curtain or moss from the lake or razing the wall of ego is MEDITATION.
The mind which would not let us loved our own Self is compared to a maddened monkey drunk with the wine of desire, possessed with the demon of pride and stung with the Scorpio of jealousy at the success of others. It moves either in the past or future. It never remains in present which is its knell. Meditation is going beyond mind and attaining owns self. It is not controlling mind or concentrating mind because every control is a repression and concentration creates tension. Meditation is a relaxation, a love to your own Self.
Through regular meditation, we shall get rid of the delusion that "I am the body, I am the intellect, I am the mind". Cleanse the dust from mirror, go straight into your Pure Self and in a flash we will know that we are Brahman. We are All Existent, All Knowledge and All Bliss whom we cannot help pouring our unselfish and immense love. He alone exists, no birth, no death, no pain, no misery, no good nor evil. All is Brahman. We take the rope for the serpent. The error is ours.
Self in ourselves is the King of kings. This universe is ours to enjoy but want nothing, to want is weakness. Want makes us beggars whereas we are sons of kings - not beggars.
भीखा भूखा कोई नहीं, सबकी गठरी लाल
अपने को जानत नहीं, ताहि विधि भये कंगाल