Transcript from TEDxUFRO - Hari Ravikumar on Spiritual

Identity

Long time back I heard a Bengali science fiction story, it was about human beings
creating advanced robots that were so powerful they could understand the nature of
politics and make political strategies for the humans. But as it turned out, this was a
very bad idea because the political robot rallied all other robots and wanted equal
rights for humans and robots. So he walked into the parliament and demanded
equal rights. An intense meeting ensued between the political robot and all the elite
social and economic leaders of the country. Throughout the morning nobody had an
answer to the robots question, he was prevailing and so in shear desperation the
head minister called the robot psychologist who got to the meeting and asked the
robot a simple question; who are you? For the first time in the day the robot is a
little unsettled and says: well I am a robot with all these different capabilities.
Doctor says; go on. Robot: what else do you want doctor everything else is in my
design drawing all you have to do is look it up. Doctor: that is exactly the difference
between us, even with our advanced knowledge of human anatomy, physiology,
cognition, neuroscience, genetics, psychology, biology we cannot draw such a
design drawing for human beings. Robot: why is that doctor? Doctor: because we
dont know the nature of the individual, we have to take into account so many
factors like for example the soul. The robot starts laughing and says: doctor, science
doesnt believe in the existence of soul and neither do I. Doctor: here is a little book
I want you to read it, I dont think it is a part of your digital library, read it and tell
me how you feel about it. And he gives the robot a copy of the Bhagavad-Gita with
a verse marked out that says: The soul is never born, it never dies, it never came
into being, it will never cease to exist, unborn, eternal timeless and changeless, it is
not killed when the body is killed. The story ends with the robot unable to
comprehend this complex question of soul and identity and has a mechanical death.
The author says in the end that before his mechanical brain disintegrated, for a
single moment enchanted by the eternal question that robot was elevated to the
status of a human being.
This story talks to us about what constitutes a spiritual identity which is so different
from all other identities. Drawing from the wisdom of the Bhagavad-Gita we can
make an argument for spiritual identities.
What is it? One way of looking at it could be our inner most feelings or the values
that we hold dear or the way we look at the world or the essence of our unique
qualities. In eastern languages the word for identity refers to ones self, but in
English the word identity by its definition has very strong connection to the outside
world. We see this in math, in mathematical identities where whatever values of A
or B you choose, the identity stays the same. We see this in language with words

like identical or identify or identification all these have the same root. So although
we are talking about ourselves we point to our identities through external means. It
could be your name, your race, sex, nationality, profession, religion and so on. But
this is not us, we dont need these external parameters to know who we are or to
feel our existence, we just know it and even if I were to change my name or my
nationality or my religion or even my sex, I am still the same person. I could be in
deep sleep or lose my memory but I am still the same person. So what is it really to
know one self? What is our identity? Ask yourself; who am I? What makes me me?
You may be laughing because you know the gravity of this question; it is a simple
elegant question but not an easy one. Because if you know the answer to this
question if you know who you are really in the inner most sense then you would be
a teacher of the world you would be an enlightened soul like Krishna or Buddha. So,
who are we? What makes us what we are, how do we know ourselves? A concept in
the Bhagavad-Gita and other texts is the Atman which is defined as the inner higher
self and knowing ones self means knowing the Atman. This implies that there is an
outer lower self. So what is the difference between these inner and outer selves? We
often hear phrases such as you ought to control your anger or watch your words.
When you listen to such expressions, the suggestion is that there are two people
involved, one who is getting angry and one who has to control the anger or one who
is speaking and one who is observing what is being spoken. So who is the on
controlling and the one being controlled? We know its the same person. It is the
inner contemplating self that is controlling the outer sensory self. The BhagavadGita says that through the sense organs and the mind the Atman perceives the
world and feels the sensations of pleasure and pain. A person excels when he
disciplines the senses and engages in work without getting attached to these
sensations. So the inner self experiences the joys and sorrows of the world through
the senses which is the outer self. It is important for us to discipline the senses if we
want to excel.
But is it possible to discipline the senses? Is it possible to go beyond the senses?
Can we get detached from these different sensations? Of course it is possible a
simple example of this is deep sleep. When we are in a state of deep sleep we are
not aware of any of these sensations. But what does it mean to work without getting
attached to these sensations? When we are in deep sleep we know of course we
lose track of space and time we lose track of our senses of our minds but is such an
experience possible when we are awake? When we are completely immersed in an
activity that we enjoy doing, could be painting, singing, solving a challenging
puzzle, climbing a mountain, dancing, gardening, solving a complicated math
problem, we have the same feeling, we lose track of space and time, we lose our
sense of identity because we become one with what we are doing. We become
perfectly egoless; this is the state of bliss. The funny thing is that this state of bliss
can be easily faked. Material pleasures are also pleasures after all and if they are
intense enough they can give the feeling of bliss. We experience this fake bliss
when we take drugs, or when we watch television for too long, when we eat too

much ice cream or drink too much wine. Basically when we feed our senses we get
duped into thinking that we are in a state of bliss. But lucky for us we have a simple
litmus test to see whether the state of bliss was real or not. If what you experience
is true bliss, like absolute involvement in an activity that youre doing then when
you come out of this state of bliss you feel fulfilled, refreshed, energized. This is the
exact opposite to what we call a hangover. There is nothing wrong with alcohol,
television or ice cream but there has to be a clear distinction between sensory
pleasures and true happiness. The more and more we engage with true happiness
the less and less we get a kick out of the material world. Having said that of course
we must acknowledge that when we were young as children first we connect with
the material world, we understand the world through our senses, then we
understand the nature of emotions, then we understand intellect, and finally we go
into a spiritual realm. This ultimate state of spirituality is not affected by the
material, emotional or intellectual worlds. It is free from instincts from emotions and
thoughts. There is no fear, hatred or cunning because at all times while a person is
hearing and seeing and sleeping and walking and eating and talking at all times a
spiritual person experiences true joy. This is why there are no atheists or theists,
this is a useless distinction. The real thing is finding ourselves and finding our bliss.
Whatever your definition of god may be or whatever culture, tradition, religion or
whatever your perception of the universe is irrespective of that definition of god we
find that god is only an excuse. The real thing is finding your bliss, finding your
self. Of course some people connect to their bliss through devotion or through
respect to divine presences in the universe. Some others do it through meditation
and some through wisdom. But the most straight forward path is of immersing ones
self in an activity that one loves to do. When we spend more time doing something
we love to do there is a greater chance that we find ourselves. It is very important
that many of us are trying to connect with our selves trying to do so many
different things and this process of self realization is very important and beneficial
because whatever efforts we put to understand ourselves we will benefit because
we will understand the universe itself. The universe is nothing but what we perceive
it to be, it is not out there it is in here in our minds.
We could argue that knowing our spiritual identity is so important that it knowing it
correctly can solve all the problems in the world, at least in theory. Some might be
skeptical, some might be smiling others confused. The thing is that this premise
could be wrong, very wrong and even if it were right it is very boring to think of a
world without problems or difficulties it would be very dull. But it is exciting to think
of a method through which we can create positive changes in the world with one
single step. There is simple way that knowing spiritual identity can lead to solving
all the problems. Before we get into that we have to ask ourselves one question.
What is the root cause of all the problems in the world? Think about it, this is not
something new ancient thinkers of India knew this for thousands of years. Buddha
made it popular of course but long before him, people knew this. Well desire is the
cause of all problems in the world. But the English language does not have a word

to accurately express the different sides of desire. It can be a very harmless desire
like I want to drink coffee at a nearby store or I want to go to Peru for a vacation or I
want to be a great scientist. These are desires that dont cause problems, but desire
in the sense of overindulgence of selfishness of greed of obsession and
possessiveness of ones own ideas and intolerance of other peoples ideas, it is that
is the desire that causes the problems. Nobody wants to be a sinful person nobody
wants to be the bad guy but desire makes people do all sorts of things, so next time
dont blame the bad guys blame desire which is the unquenchable and corrupting
enemy of humanity.
Now we have to understand that desire when it is not fulfilled, it leads to frustration
it leads to anger and to confusion. When somebody is confused they lose their
power of discretion. They dont discriminate between what is good and what is bad
and at any cost they want to reach their selfish aims. When there is a lack of
discretion then you lose the power of reasoning and when human beings lose the
power of reasoning we are doomed. This is how desire leads to destruction, very
beautifully explained in the Bhagavad-Gita. If we take a step back and ask; what is
the cause of desire, what are the conditions under which desire prevails and
thrives? If we are able to answer this question then we can find a solution for the
larger problems. We find that when we feed our senses more and more we get
attached to these sensations and we get attached to these sensations we desire for
more and more. We also realize that when there is no ego then there is no question
of desire. When we are asleep we have no sensations of the outside world, we dont
have any sensations of time and space. There is no question of desire. The same
applies to a state of bliss, when we are doing something that we love to do there is
no question of desire because you become one with what you are doing.
So when you are in a state of ego, when you are very much conscious of the world
then there is a greater chance of desire. So here is the one step solution to positive
change in the world because of your spiritual identity and understanding it. When
you work in harmony with your natural abilities doing what you love to do and at the
same time respecting the world around you, be it your family, your local
community, the society at large, or the natural environment then you not only
become valuable to yourself but you become valuable to the world. This is it, work
in harmony with your natural abilities doing what you love to do and taking care of
the world around you. This is your one step solution because as more and more
people find their bliss they encourage other people to find their bliss and as more
and more people find their bliss what happens is there will be less corruption,
exploitation, fraud and deception. By just making a small change in your attitude by
doing what you love to do helping other people do what they love to do, you can
make a big impact in the world. Each and every one of us has this power, we should
never forget it.
From the Bhagavad-Gita, 6th chapter: A person will never stray from the truth once
he gains infinite bliss that transcends the senses. Upon gaining infinite bliss he

knows that there is no greater attainment, and once he has established thus, he is
not moved by even the deepest sorrow.