Self-Realization and the Experience of the Soul: The Path to Supreme Light

The Journey of Self-Awareness

Discussion centers on self-realization, self-identity, and the direct experience of the soul. These are not separate subjects but different depths of the same truth. To know the soul is to experience divine light; to experience divine light is to awaken self-identity. Bapuji’s discourses on “Attaining Supreme Light in Self-Identity” (Part One and Part Two) beautifully illuminate this path. However, the real question is not what the truth is, but how to progress in living it practically. This article explores that practical journey—from intellectual understanding to lived soul-experience.

Understanding Who We Truly Are

The first and most essential step is to understand who we are.

We are not merely bodies, roles, or identities of this world. We are infinite souls, beings of supreme light, eternal and indestructible. This is not a slogan or belief—it is an experience that must be cultivated. Just as the words of the Bhagavad Gita were once spoken by Shri Krishna, today those words must become our own lived realization: “I am an infinite soul.” Whether the body exists or not, the soul remains. The body belongs to the earth; the soul does not. Until this truth is accepted fully—emotionally, intellectually, and experientially—self-identity remains incomplete.

From Knowing to Becoming

Many have heard about self-identity, but few have embodied it. Knowing about the soul is different from living as the soul.

In daily life, we ask:

• How is your health?      How is your work?       How is your family?

But rarely do we ask:

• How is your soul?  Do you remember your true identity?   Are you living from soul-consciousness?

When remembrance of the soul becomes constant—when every cell records “I am an infinite soul”—then transformation begins.

The Power of Belief and Repetition

Experience begins with belief, and belief strengthens through repetition. Just as accepting a false insult can create inner conflict, accepting the truth of our infinite nature dissolves fear, insecurity, and limitation.

Affirm repeatedly:

• I am not of this earthly realm.

• I am supreme light.

• I am consciousness, not the body.

At first, the mind resists. But repetition imprints reality into consciousness.

Practice: The Discipline of Awakening

Spiritual realization is not accidental; it is disciplined practice.

Bapuji emphasizes:

• Knowledge

• Yoga (soul-connection)

• Service

• Meditation

A few minutes of practice cannot produce deep experience. Just as mastery in any field requires immersion, soul-realization demands consistent, sincere effort. Become a karmayogi—perform duties while remaining rooted in soul-awareness.

Waking Up from the Dream

Life in body-consciousness is like a dream. When someone is attacked in a dream, they wake up only by opening their eyes. Similarly, liberation from illusion occurs only when we awaken into self-knowledge. Knowledge must move from heard to lived.

The Upanishads say: The ignorant wander because they do not know. Those with knowledge wander because they have not become knowledge. Becoming knowledge means living the soul, not just speaking about it.

The Soul Observing Itself

A profound question from the Upanishads asks: If I am seeing the soul, then who is the soul seeing?

The answer is experiential:

• The soul is seeing itself.

• Observer and observed merge.

• Duality dissolves.

This is true self-realization—where attention withdraws from the world and rests fully in the self.

Visualization, Resolution, and the Supreme Abode

The soul’s original form is pure light—not color, not shadow. Whether on earth or in the Supreme Abode, the process remains the same:

--------------------Awareness----------Remembrance-------------Resolution

When we resolve: “I am in the Supreme Abode of light” the mind begins to experience that state. Resolution becomes a body of experience, activating dormant soul-power—just as ancient mantras once did.

Breaking the Veil of Illusion

The greatest obstacle is not ignorance—it is illusion created by the mind.

The mind generates:

• Fear--------Distraction------------Desire---------False pleasure

The soul generates:

• Peace

• Light

• Stability

• Bliss

Training the mind to accept that true joy lies in soul-consciousness is essential. What we focus on grows. When focus shifts from illusion to light, transformation accelerates.

Continuous Soul-Remembrance

Self-realization does not require isolation. Even with open eyes, amidst daily work, remembrance can continue.

If the mind wanders:

• Think the mantra--------Speak it aloud.--------Write it repeatedly.

This is traffic control for consciousness—keeping awareness centered on the soul throughout the day.

From Personal Awakening to World Transformation

When the soul awakens, its vibrations purify:

• Mind

• Body

• Environment

• The five elements

Through right vibrations, the atmosphere transforms. Through awakened souls, the world heals.

Every soul that awakens becomes an instrument of world welfare.

Love, Faith, and Surrender

Above all, love accelerates realization.

Unconditional love for the Supreme Father dissolves effort into grace. Faith aligns effort with power. Surrender allows divine energy to work unhindered.

The task is simple, though not easy:

• Increase practice

• Deepen silence

• Strengthen remembrance

• Serve without attachment

Conclusion: The Time of Awakening

This is not a distant future.
This is the time of awakening.

What saints achieved over decades can now occur rapidly—because the time itself supports transformation.

Step out of illusion. Anchor in soul-consciousness. Live as light.

The journey is inevitable for every soul. If not today, then tomorrow—but those who choose now become path-creators for the world.