Bhagavad Gita 13.25

dhyānenātmani paśyanti

kecid ātmānam ātmanā

anye sāṅkhyena yogena

karma-yogena cāpare

 

Some behold the self by inner sight,

Attained by meditation, calm and bright;

Some by wisdom; some by selfless deed—

Each follows a different inward lead.

 

My dear Lord, my sense of self is often the cause of my greatest illusion and tribulation—until what I think of as my self aligns with my actual self.

O supreme enlightener, my current distorted self-conception arises from my various roles in the world and from the features of my body-mind machine. I may think of myself as an Indian, an engineer, an introvert, or an intellectual. Though all of these are parts of my present composite identity, they are still only parts, not the whole of who I am.

O infallible Lord, when I over-identify with them, the center of gravity of my identity shifts from who I truly am—an eternal, indestructible soul, an inalienable part of you—to something volatile and vulnerable, being dependent on ever-changing externals. All of these identities are intermittently threatened and eventually terminated by the inexorable passage of time—a fate that subjects me to immense agony, including even the agony of death.

O merciful Lord, you provide many spiritual paths by which I can realign my sense of self with my actual self. Grant me the steady and sturdy intelligence to remain on the spiritual path that brings me closer not only to my core self, but also to you—the self of my self, the supreme self—without whom I cannot exist and for whom I long to exist.

***

13.25 Some perceive the Supersoul within themselves through meditation, others through the cultivation of knowledge, and still others through working without fruitive desires.