The Quest for Self-Realization
 

Sooner or later, nearly all human beings wonders about the true purpose of their life. Is it to work hard to improve our living conditions, to provide for our families, to die after perhaps 70 or 80 years, and then to be nonexistent forever? Is acquiring all material wealth the main purpose in life? Can it only lead to a happy and meaningful life? Probably, the answer to these questions is, no. As human beings, we have always attempted--and will continue--to fill the emptiness of our lives with confidence and purpose.

Today’s human is lost in the jungle of day-to-day problems such as deteriorating family values, drug, tobacco, alcohol abuse, crime, and killer diseases like cancer and AIDS. Naturally, the scripture-prescribed goals of spiritual awakening and the attainment of salvation or eternal bliss have become a low priority for individuals. In fact, when we think deeply about all this, we find that our life priorities have been misplaced.

Why do people turn to God?

Today, people are seen turning to God more for their worldly needs -- for a peace of mind and comfort to cope with life’s routine problems - than for their need for self-actualization. Of course, religions, scriptures and masters have satisfied both the needs, and there is nothing wrong with it. But, is this the real purpose of adopting a religion? What is the common view of scriptures in this regard? Why shouldn’t we focus more on the real essence of the scriptural wisdom that can bring us eternal happiness? In this book, our focus will be primarily on the human quest for self-realization.

To seek is the start of any quest. World religions explain the quest as the longing of a soul for God. The reward of the spiritual quest is gaining the deeper understanding of one’s True Self and the discovery of a new and different way of being. The spiritual nature of humans has allowed them to think about the creation of this universe and their own spiritual nature and origin. They also tend to think about the true form, sports, and the abode of the Supreme Truth God and the purpose of their worldly existence. As intellectuals, we humans often confront such brainstorming questions:

Pran Nath Ji says: "A strong desire to receive the true answers to these questions is the first step to move towards the attainment of Eternal Bliss. An individual seeking Nijanand, being a true jeweler, will, of course, shop with extreme care and a firm mind; they will always look for Nijanand --the Jewel of all Jewels." The above-mentioned questions occurred to Dev Chandra Ji (1581-1654AD), the founder of Nijanand Sampradaya, when he was eleven. He got answers to these questions when the Supreme Lord appeared before him and awakened his soul through the Divine Tartam Knowledge. If we deeply study the diverse world faiths, we find that their respective scriptures have also attempted to answer some of these questions. However, their individual messages appear to be scattered like pearls in an ocean. Yes, all of them did explore God territory; however, Pran Nath Ji says, "each scripture or religion explored just a part of the territory or spiritual plane; of course, they did so according to their respective understandings!"
  In light of the Divine Tartam Wisdom, a seeker soul can put all these different scriptural explorations together. Such a soul realizes that each scripture attempted to reach the same goal, but could explore only up to a certain spiritual plane, among the many planes--one above the other.

First, this book attempts to teach us what exactly to expect from the world religions and scriptures. Then, it explores the process of understanding the scripturally correct answer to these questions. Given the fact that the Supreme Truth God cannot be fully understood through the human mind and intellect, the book relies mostly on the divine wisdom hidden in the many world scriptures; it is not based on any human philosophy.

Through many references on different aspects of spiritual awakening from different scriptures, and by comparing each aspect of spirituality in the light of Tartam Knowledge of Mahamati, this book attempts to lead the seeker soul closer to the goal of realization of Supreme Eternal Bliss. In doing so, the seeker soul’s heart must always be pure, soft and open to Mahamati's teachings to reap the fullest benefit.

Finally, the readers should always keep this message from Mahamati in mind:
 

"This Divine Wisdom is only for those who have a true desire to build their faith in it, act upon it, and enshrine its teachings in their hearts. Those, who do not realize the need for this treasure, may continue to enjoy their material life as usual." The fire of Divine Love must start from within an individual's heart.