SELF AWARENESS-ULTIMATE GOAL OF LIFE Ancient spiritual teachers and enlightened spirits have ordained that to know the self is the ultimate goal of one's life. Lord Mahavir said, "One who knows one (self), knows everything else". "One who is awake or aware of the self is the real saint (Muni) and the one who is not awake is not a saint (Amuni". Socrates and Jesus Christ also said, "Know Thyself". This also means to know and to be aware of the self. Maharshi Patanjali of Yoga fame says, "To be in oneself is 'Kaivalya', the highest gnana (wisdom)." Lord Buddha said, "To end the suffering, you set up yourself in constant awareness. Constant Awareness is enlightenment.". Self-Knowledge- End of Conflict and Suffering According to J. Krishnamurti, one of the most enlightened souls of the twentieth century, self-awareness is the beginning and the end of life. Conflict and suffering exist as long as I do not understand myself. Therefore, understanding self is much more important than knowing how to overcome sorrow and conflict. Most of us are totally unaware of ourselves. We do not observe our own thoughts and feelings The more you know yourself, the more clarity there is. Self-Knowledge has no end. It is an endless river. IMPORTANCE OF 'PRESENT' According to Nisargadatta Maharaj, present has the stamp of reality because I am always now, in the present and what is with me now shares in my reality. The past is in memory, the future in imagination." To know one's real self is bliss, to forget-is sorrow. The real is beyond the mind. Seeing the false as false is meditation. This must go on all the time. Exercise in discrimination between the true and the false and renunciation of the false is meditation. Do not undervalue attention (Dhyana). It means interest and also love. Self-remembrance and self-realization are two aspects of the same state. Self-remembrance is in the mind, self-realization is beyond the mind. The obstacles to clear perception of one's true being are desire for pleasure and fear of pain. It is the pleasure-pain motivation that stands in the way. What is the root of the pain? Ignorance of self. What is the root of desire? The urge to find self. All creation toils for its self and will not rest until it returns to it. Harmlessness is most powerful form of Yoga and it will take you speedily to your goal. This is what I call nisarga yoga, the Natural yoga. It is the art of living in peace and harmony, in friendliness and love. The fruit of it is happiness, uncaused and endless. According to Eckhart Tolle, the author of "The Power of Now", The greatest difficulty in experiencing reality (or having self awareness) is "the identification with mind". The incessant mental noise prevents you from finding that realm of inner stillness that is inseparable from being (the self). Thinking has become a disease. Mind is a superb instrument, if used rightly. When it is out of our control, it is a disease. As you go more deeply into this realm of no-mind, you realize the state of pure consciousness in which "you are highly alert and aware but not thinking". This is the essence of meditation. "NOW" - THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF LIFE Pain is self-created till the unobserved mind runs your life. The greater part of the human pain is avoidable. The pain that you create now is always some form of non-acceptance, some form of unconscious resistance to what is. "Make 'Now' the primary focus of your life. Say yes to life-and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you. This will miraculously transform your whole life." Attaining self-awareness is the objective of life and through meditation one can learn the art of living in the present with full awareness. Present is the most important thing. The past, being in memory, and the future, only foreboding, are the root cause of suff