…I am telling you the outward signs of a realized person who is totally unaffected by worldly joys and sorrows. To end misery or to remain blissful, listen to these ten outward signs of a realized person.
1. Absence of anger: One should not get angry. If someone insults you, you should take it as an insult to the body. Keep your mind (attitude) completely free of anger. To merely repress an impulse of anger (and keep quiet) is not an indication of absence of anger. Absence of anger implies absence of any reaction to an anger-provoking stimulus. If anything happens against your mind’s liking and there is a surge of anger, it indicates a habit of wanting to dictate to others. These ten signs are told for the aspirant’s study. With the help of these signs, continue your study or practice, and these signs will show up in your behavior. All is untrue in this world. How then can one thing evoke anger? Even that thing is untrue. This is the way one must think. One should recognize all the causes of anger in the mind.
2. Detachment: Detachment is the absence of even a single desire. This leads to fearlessness. Otherwise, there is no freedom from fear for you. One should not depend on others as in the case, “If I do not get anything to eat I will die.” Desire for the bliss of Self is a desire for bliss within. People who hoard millions and then go about speaking to others about the “Knowledge of Brahman,” do not do good to themselves. Instead, they commit fraud. They do not know the meaning of detachment. Absence of anger gets reinforced through detachment. Absence of anger is really inner detachment. Even if one gets something, one should renounce it. Be good to those who cause you harm. To be in one’s own nature is the main indication of a realized person. Everyone should be granted freedom. One should never get angry. As we are the Inner-Self, Brahman, no one can really insult us. So, one who gives us trouble, liberates us from the ego of the body. This is what we should understand. If you put this into practice, it will become your habit. One should think for oneself why anger arises. It is not difficult to bring all these ten requisites into practice. You find them difficult because you have not formed this habit up to now. Detachment means to have no desire. A person becomes miserable because of the absence of detachment. The meaning of the word Karbhari (worldly person) is that Kar means trouble, and Bhari means a lot, plenty. We must leave off our wants through discrimination. The highest fortune of a Yogi is when detachment (the complete understanding that all this is false) gets rooted in him. This Maya or Illusion is so peculiar that it gives nothing to the one who begs and gives (all) to the one who does not ask. Everyone has developed a fondness for worldly objects, but the more detached one is, the happier he becomes.
3. Control of the senses: This means not to be attached to the senses. With strength, anything is possible. When one becomes dependent, then one thinks of Rama (only for some gain or benefits). If there is strength, there is less fear, and it becomes easier to think of “Knowledge.” A strong man understands Knowledge better. Virtue is indicated by control of senses.
4. Mercy or forgiveness: Each one is the Self. Therefore, we must forgive those who harass us. Never harbor hatred in the mind, because the burden of the desire to take revenge festers in the mind with the result that only enemies and misery are created. Therefore, every time there is some offense, one should be ready to forgive.
5. Compassion: One should be kind to all. What is compassion? Not being cruel to anybody.
6. Peace: Maintain peace. Do not worry, and enjoy the bliss of the Self.
7. Complaisance to others: Without hurting anyone, if we help others, they develop love for us. If we wish that good should not come to others, then good does not come to us either. He is a good man who becomes happy when he wishes for happiness for other people. The one who acts contrary to this, is a miser.
8. Absence of greed: Do not be greedy. Greed is only for objects in Illusion that are untrue.
9. Magnanimity: These is true nobility. To desire that all should be happy, you must learn to be magnanimous from the very core of your heart.
10. Fearlessness: Fear creates misery. If it is possible to be rid of misery, it is the duty of the Jnani to do so.
Start putting the above traits into practice. Through this, you will enjoy the glory of Knowledge (Jnana). These are the ten external signs of Knowledge. To be one with your Self Nature, or “Being,” is true happiness. He who is happy both within and without is blissful. To behave nobly means to let each one act according to his or her desire. Otherwise, one forms a habit of censuring others. One should never speak ill of others. Also, never bother yourself with petty observations about others. Do not meddle in the affairs of others. This is called charity. Do not waste your time getting involved in others’ affairs. Only the one who achieves “Self-Knowledge” is a realized person. He becomes happy if he puts the above ten requisites into practice. Lord Krishna is called a liar, yet he is a God. This is because Krishna did lie, but at the same time he was always identified with the Self.
~ Amrut Laya – The Stateless State ~ (p. 141)
Shri Sadguru Siddharameshwar Maharaj