Permenance has many connotations, implications and consequences.

Lets examine some of the characteristics, attributes and implications of Permenance before we go any further.

1. Nothing in the Physical World is Permenant. It has been created only for us to learn about ourselves. It is in a state of change every moment and disappears when we die.

This assertion leads to the following conclusions;

a.  Our physical body along with all its wants and needs will have to be discarded.

b.  There is no formulation or concoction that we can make from this world and consume it to attain permenance (by stopping ageing).  This is because physical death may occur by many other means other than just ageing.

2.  Our sense perceptions which are instrumental in activating our consciousness is no longer useful because these are instruments that can only perceive change.  So in an environment where there is no change, these instruments will not function. 

So when we attain permenance, we have to retain our consciouness without the benefit of sense perceptions. 

3. Permenance means no dependance on any "external" source for sustenance. Any deendance on any source that is not under one's complete control will be withdrawn at any time. So there is going to be no need to depend on food, water or any other nourishment that requires to be drawn from an external source. 

This means that consciousness has to become self sustaining. Alternatively it must shed the need for sustenance, 

4.  Permenance means lack of conflict.  Whenever there is conflict, there can be no permenance. This is because conflict is the source and cause of change,

Our consciousness is born in turmoil. In a situation of conflict, one has to be in state of continual change just to survive otherwise, one will be destroyed. 

Singularity in perception and consciousness is implied if we are to attain permenance. We are born into a world of duality. This means that our minds are born with the conflicting force of the opposites. 

Tranquility is an essential requirement of Permenance.

If the acqusition of resources to just fulfill one's basic needs is adequate, then the mind is said to be under control and the JivaAtma is considered to be realized, evolved and progressive.  

Fixing the identity on the Paramatma and not deviating even for a split second will transport us from transience and unhappiness and unite us with the almighty in a permenant state of bliss. We then move to a higher scale on the evolutionary ladder.  

There are now three entities - The MIND, The Identity "I" and our KARMA. 

So which of these is the SEEKER? Which is our TRUE Identity?

THE ANSWER COMES FROM THE PARAMATHMA's ASSERTION OF THE ESSENTIAL QUALITY OF THAT IDENTITY - WHICH IS - PERMANENCE.

PERMANENCE MEANS - NO CHANGE.

NO CHANGE MEANS - NO IMBALANCE.

NO IMBALANCE MEANS - THE FORCES OF PERCEPTION AND ENERGY ARE NOT DEPENDANT ON CREATION AND DESTRUCTION OF THE OPPOSITES. PERCEPTION IS NOT BOUND BY SPACE AND TIME. IT BECOMES INFINITE, BOUNDLESS.

BOUNDLESS MEANS - COMPLETELY EVOLVED. NO FURTHER DEVELOPMENT IS NEEDED. SELF REALIZED.

SELF REALIZED MEANS - EXISTENCE DOES NOT DEPEND ON EXTRANEOUS FORCES. ALL THAT IS NEEDED FOR SELF SUSTENANCE WILL BE GENERATED FROM WIThIN, AT WILL. THIS MEANS THAT EXISTENCE WILL NOT REQUIRE OF FORCES THAT ARE SUBJECT TO IMBALANCES AND CHANGE.

WHEN THE MIND BEGINS ITS INWARD LOOKING JOURNEY, ONE KEY ASPECT OF THE LEARNING MUST BE NOTED - LEARNING AND TRANSFORMATION ARE CONCURRENT PROCESSES. SO AS THE MIND LEARNS ABOUT ITSELF, IT UNDERGOES PERMANENT TRANSFORMATION. WHICH MEANS THAT THE SEEKER UNDERGOES CHANGES TO EVOLVE TO HIGHER AND HIGHER LEVELS OF EXISTENCE AS THE LEARNING PROGRESSES.

NOTE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEARNING ABOUT THE SELF AND LEARNING ABOUT "EXTERNAL OBJECTS". WHEN THE LEARNING OCCURS ABOUT EXTERNAL OBJECTS, THE MIND BECOMES THE OBSERVER. SO IT STAYS DETACHED AND UNAFFECTED. BUT IF THE MIND ACCEPTS THAT THE LEARNING FROM THE OBSERVATION IS ABOUT ITSELF, TRANSFORMATION BEGINS TO SET IN.

OF THE THREE entities, that we think may be our true identity, none of them is permanent.  Our Minds are always changing.  They exist only based on the experience of a changing environment. The artificial identity that the mind creates for differentiation and observation of its own reflection, will last only as long as the reflection (KARMA) lasts. Our KARMA only lasts as long as our human life.  

So the Identity is none of these.  That status is attributed to the ATMA. The ATMA carries the experiences endlessly from body to body until a perfect state of mind is attained. 

The ATMA is a dispassionate medium which only collects the extent of evolution attained during this life, keeps tracks of the Papa and Punya accumulated by the individual and facilitates either the attainment of permenance (or MOKSHAM) or reincarnation in a different body until the state of perfection of the mind is attained. 

The identity of the ATMA therefore appears disconnected from the MIND, and the EGO. However, it does have a direct connection with the Karma that we are given to experience. So the ATMA is a kind of controller (because of its determination of Karma) and account keeper (because of the tally of papa, punya and attainment) and the experience of Karma."  

Moksham is the merger of our ATMA (Jiva Atma) with the Paramathma which is the ultimate stae of permenance.

We however do not experience the ATMA directly, when we start out on this journey.  Initially, our perceptive domain and our "control" is restricted to the EGO and the MIND. 

As the MIND evolves, the influence of Karma diminishes.  This results in the diminishing influence of the EGO on the MIND. When the influence of the EGO on the MInd diminishes, the Jiva Atma and the Mind become much more interlinked and in the final stages the Jiva Atma and the Mind become one vehicle that merges with the Paramathma.  This is the point at which our perspective Mind attains permenance.

So the answer to the question about our identity is that it is different and ever-changing until the final point of realization of the TRUTH about aourself is attained.

The identity is also the starting point of perception. FOR PERCEPTION TO HAPPEN, there must be a PERCEIVER AND THERE MUST BE A PERCEIVED. This is the DUALITY factor in our existence. The ability to differentiate objects, events, and their impact on our minds are primarily determined by who or what we think we are.  Our perception of all objects, people and events are tainted by our self assessment of our own capabilities, abilities and our standing relative to the object that we perceive. 

When we observe the external world, there is no question in our minds that the observed phenomena are REAL and our mind accepts the observed objects and events as TRUTH.  We do not doubt what we perceive. The mind implicitly TRUSTS all that is perceived through the senses.

However,  when we look into our own minds, we have a hard time in differentiating what is REAL, and what is an ILLUSION.  This is because we cannot use our most trusted source of information, which is our senses, to peek into our minds.  We have to learn to recognize the intellctual tools that are available within us, by identifying them in the course of discharging our Karma in the material world.  These tools must then be used to turn the observation inward.

In order for the mind to look at itself and understand its own working, the Mind needs to be able to step outside of itself.  It does so by developing an "Identity".  

In order to elimimate the "I" ('Ahankara'), which is the the barrier /seperator between ignorance and attainment of enlightenment by the Jiva Atma, so that it can merge with the Paramathma.

What the Paramathma tells us through the Puranas is that all perceptions of the external world flow out of the need to satisfy the unfulfilled, and growing, demands of our consciousness for experiencing pleasures and acceptance. So the reasoning is if we get to know our TRUE IDENTITY, then we will be able to control it, free "ourselves" from the impact of "our" Karma and become one with our perception and consciousness WITHOUT ANY CONFLICT.   Using this knowledge, we will be able to escape the cycle of births and deaths.

It is the assertion of the Paramathma that once we consciously locate and more importantly, unconditionally accept the identity within us, MOKSHAM is attained.  

MOKSHAM is attained because in the process of seeking the identity, the conscious mind discards the illusions, the desires, the ego, and the ignorance that accompanies its birth and drives its karmic experiences. 

We are born in ignorance and through our learning based on the Karmic experience of life, we transcend this material world into a sublimal existence that has no physical constraints.  This transformation results in the discovery of our TRUE inner self.

As Shri Ramana Maharshi said;  "The question who am I is the axe with which to cut off the ego".  He was implying that the question is the starting point of the journey from ignorance to knowledge or enlightenment. 

We Human Beings are made up of a number of elements, a few of which we are aware of and many that we are not aware of. Many of these elements are not within our "control".  It is hard to decide which of these is really within "our" control. 

Unless a point of control can be established, we, the composite being, will be pulled in opposing directions and we will be moving in circles with no progress being made. This point within us, in which the control is focused (the controller) our true self or "identity".

Which are the forces that compete within us to play the role of our true self or identity? The choice generally appears to be:

1. The perceived world with all its pulls and pushes and attractions appears "very real".

2. The organs of the body, especially the five senses, which are the instruments of perception. 

3. The Mind which interprets the perception through the five senses.

4. Karma - which seems to throw events at us which we are able to experience but not control. 

5. The forces of Karma such as Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Madha and Matsarya.

6. The Ego (the differentiator between the self and everything else).

7. Dharmic principles of thought such as selflessness, detachment.

8. The creator or Easwara who is responsible for the perceived object and the forces of perception - The Parama - Atma.

Actually, for most of us, the identity does not remain fixed on any one element.  It varies as we grow up into different phases of life (from boyhood to adult) and often swings wildly even between the same phase of life.

This changing scenario may progress from identifyng (initially) with the external world and (finally) to Easwara as the owner of the identity.  

The surrendering of the identity to the Paramathma happens only when self realization sets in completely. This marks the transitioning to the next level of existence.

As long as we think of the identity as one of the other seven aspects (other than Easwara), there will be confusion as well as dissatisfaction and discontent.

Realization will set in, as a result of this dissatisfaction, that the identity belongs to Easwara alone.

The identity that we assume at any given point, drives our thought process and the mind. The mind is always in a state of conflict.  The conflict is caused by the imbalance between the Gunas. Only one of the three Gunas (Rajas, Tamas and Sattvic) is in dominance at any given moment and the identity is pulled towards that Guna which is dominant.  Once the mind locks its identity to a particular Guna, then the behaviour and acts of the individual set in place a sequence of events that results in "success" and "failure".  

The identity has been established to differentiate between the self and everyone else. It becomes important for the mind to experience "success" because then the mind thinks that it is set on the correct path and that success can be repeated.  "Success" is important for the mind because its imaginary "needs" are now fulfilled and it experiences pleasure rather than pain. The Mind has now found the correct Guna to lock the identity into. Once locked in, the mind has to only repeat the behaviour that the Guna generates in order to continue to experience success and pleasure, and Success" locks in the mind to that particular Guna even more.  

The identity then begins to control the mind and thought process.

But Karma does not spare anyone.  Success soon turns to failure, the mind is once again agitated out of its self glorification phase and once again it starts to move its identity around the three Gunas.  In this process, it is subject to Karma's main "Astras" (missiles) - Kama, Krodha, Moha, Lobha, Mada and Matsarya. 

These changes happen many times during the course of each day and drives the mind to "mood swings" between happiness and misery.  The intellect begins its search for a permenant solution.

The solution of self realization is accepted after many failures experienced in the "real" world. 

If the mind is to be restrained in control and the forces of perception are to steer our thoughts away from the transient to the permenant, then, self realization is the only path.

In the process of Self-Realization and Self-Analysis, the first step is to peel the layers and layers of ignorance in our minds and attempt to establish our "real" identity.

The mind, as it was explained in the previous page is born out of the imbalance between the Gunas. Imbalance is the means by which the mind perceives the objects of this world, through the medium of the five senses.

Why should an identity be important?  The human mind begins to work by differentiating.  The differentiation between people, objects, events and phenomena is enabled by the identity. If we do not have an identity, the mind will not be able to function. So we seperate ourselves from all perceived objects and classify these as "not I".

The fact that the observed events are the product of the Mind, of which the "I" is a part, is totally relegated to the background or completely discarded (even assuming that it is actually known). 

In order to accept that the perception is only an image and does not represent the reality of the perceiver, we have to block the mind (which is one of the sources of perception) from getting entrapped by attachment to the observed image. 

It would help to keep in mind that what it is observing and participating in is the fixed Karmic sequence of events that are played out within itself. This is very much like watching a modern virtual reality show except that we do not hold any switches in our hand  to control the action.  These switches or points of control are imbedded deep within the mind.

The mind has to reach within itself to be able to reach the control panel. 

The clues to reaching the switches are to be deciphered from the Karmic action being observed and very importantly, from the Paramathma's teachings. 

The "I" is now completely lost in its Karma and the entanglement grows with each experience or event.

The impact of  Karmic events on the "I" is so great that it soon gets into "conflict" mode and attempts to use its resources and capabilities of the mind to take control of the situation and determine what events it wants to experience and what it wants to eliminate.