ABSTRACT
Man has two selves, as it were, the apparent self and the real Self. The apparent self is the phenomenal or empirical self, which is subject to feelings of pleasure and pain, subject to birth and death, the experiencer and the enjoyer of this objective universe. The real Self is known in Sanskrit as the Atman. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that there are two kinds of ego; one is the ego of knowledge, ego that considers itself a child of God, a devotee of God, the spiritual aspirant that struggles for the union. The spiritual aspirant must not love the things of this world or remain attached to them. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that people are busy with God’s creation, but how few seek to know the Creator. The main objective of all spiritual disciplines, including the practice of meditation, is to make the mind pure so that God may be revealed in the shrine of the heart.
