Self-Illumination

(written on January 18, 2020)

(References: BG 3.17, 15.15)

The word self illuminated means that light comes from within, that one is illuminated from within. In this case, self-illuminated means that one has the knowledge revealed in one’s heart. Light is compared to knowledge. When one is not self-realized, then they are experiencing internal darkness because they do not know that the soul and the Supersoul exist within. This knowledge for self-realization is key for becoming self-illuminated and it is coming straight from Krishna, in BG 15.15, “I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.”

One can become self illuminated once they understand the different levels of self realization: (1) one must understand that they are not the body but the individual soul or jiva (2) one must understand that within the body, there are two knowers, the individual soul and the Supersoul or Paramatma (3) one must understand that the body, along with the material nature, the individual soul, and the Supersoul are all coming from Krishna. By understanding the three levels of self-realization, one can understand their eternal constitutional position in relationship to the Lord. Hence, they become self-illuminated because they have understood the correct knowledge.

These three different levels of self realization can be really understood when one performs constant unalloyed devotional service, reads the Vedas especially Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita, and chants the Mahamantra. There is a difference between reading the points of self realization and actually understanding and imbibing what is said in these three levels of self-realization.