What am I? is such an ancient and perennial question only because it has to be answered by each individual for himself. If he finds the true answer, he will find also that he cannot really transfer it to another person but only its idea, its mental shadow.
That too may be valuable to others, but it is not the same. Surely the human race has by this time, by this late century in history found the truth? Why, then, does the man who wants it have to make his own personal search all over again? It is because he must know it for himself within himself. It was Ramana Maharshi of Arunachala who said, "You yourself are your own guru.
Be that." He who seeks the truth about these matters will discover that it is contrary to current opinion, and therefore he will have to discover it by himself and for himself. He should verify the truth not by reference to book or bible but by reference to his own private experience.
There is no room in this school for those who are ready to dispose of life's problems with secondhand judgment. The need of individual thinking is vital here. Humanity will not be saved in groups or by organizations. It will be saved individual by individual.
The Quest begins with, and ends in, himself. Being true to oneself brings happiness. Being indifferent to the criticisms of those who misunderstand brings freedom from anxiety on their account. Walking the streets in a spirit of independence, enables us to walk as a millionaire! Let others sacrifice themselves to snobbery, if they will; let us be free.
Only when the feet rest can we bring the mind to rest--unless we are Attained Ones! We can be devout and dignified but we need not therefore be dull. I do not deny that the drift of several movements which are in the world's eye today, is toward this idea of greater spirituality.
But whereas they are confined in their search by attachment to a set creed, or a particular philosophy, or even some one person, we propose to pursue an absolutely independent quest--one limited in its width by no qualifications or conditions.
The individual need to escape from rigid formalism into intellectual freedom comes only to a minority. But it is from this minority that the real truth-seekers emerge. Taking no theoretical position, not committed to any beliefs, not wearing any labels, not putting himself in any categories, the philosophical student starts his search for truth in intellectual freedom and ends it in personal inner freedom. He is then what he is.
The independent self-reliant attitude of Saint Paul set an example which, had it been followed by succeeding generations, might have changed the history of his religion. He refused money gifts and followed his craft of tent-making throughout his wide travels.
To become a follower of this quest there is no master or organization whose permission he must ask: he is free to do so just so far as his aspiration and capacity permit him to. Without making any fuss and avoiding unnecessary friction, he may pursue his independent path and choose his own goals. If a man cannot find in society or surroundings the standards which suit his character, then he must find his own. It is this that makes him a quester.
A man must stay in his own orbit and take his directives from within. If through fear of loneliness, intimidation, or suggestion, he joins the marching groups of his time, he will not reach his best. So long as so many men live in error or compromise with wrong, merely because both have been established by tradition or custom, so long must a few among them do the greater and nobler thing by following a bold nonconformity.
The average, the "normal," is not to be taken as the true standard. He must walk at his own pace, not society's hasty trot. He must choose his own road, not the most trodden one. The way of life which his neighbors follow does not suit him, so he must alter it.
He holds the desire to fashion himself creatively into something better than he is at present, something nobler, wiser, and more perceptive. But they hold no such desire, are content with static existence. From the Notebooks of Paul Brunton
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