Merge In Yourself – In Gita Verse 6.32 He is a perfect yogī who, by comparison to his own self, sees the true equality of all beings, in both their happiness and their distress, O Arjuna!
What Krishna is saying – by comparison to his own self – he means yogi don’t imitate or compare with others. They are with themselves. He is a unique individual.
Let me share with you a story of Hassid mystic Zusia.
The Hassid mystic, Zusia, was dying, and he started praying. Tears were flowing down from his eyes and he was trembling. And somebody asked ‘What is the matter? Why are you trembling?’
He was saying ‘I am trembling for a certain reason. This is my last moment, I am dying. Soon I will be facing my God, and I am certain he is not going to ask me “Zusia, why were you not Moses?”
If he asks I will say “Lord, because you didn’t give me the qualities of Moses!”; there will be no problem. He will not ask me “Why were you not Rabbi Akiba?” I will tell him “Sir, you never gave me the qualities of being an Akiba, that’s why.”
But I am trembling because if he asks “Zusia, why were you not a Zusia” then I will have nothing to answer, then I will have to look down in shame. That’s why I am trembling and these tears are flowing.
My whole life I tried to become Moses or Akiba or somebody else, and I completely forgot that he wanted me to be just Zusia and nobody else. Now I am trembling, now I am afraid. If he asks this question, what am I going to answer?
How will I be able to raise my eyes when he says “Why were you not a Zusia? You were given all the qualities of being a Zusia, how did you miss it?”
And I have missed, in imitating others.
We imitate and compare ourselves with others. But we have never thought that we are unique. Man is not a species. Each man is unique. There has never been any individual like you before and there will never be again. You are utterly unique. This is your privilege, your prerogative, life’s blessing – that it has made you unique.
Krishna through this verse reminds us that we are unique. In that uniqueness there is no happiness or distress. When you realize your uniqueness all duality just disappears.
In my Bhagavad Gita Verse 3.35, blog I wrote on You Are Unique.
This is one of the greatest paradoxes of life, that we are not separate from the whole, yet each individual is unique. This is really difficult to comprehend, because the moment we think of uniqueness, immediately we think of the self. Our idea of uniqueness is that we can be unique only if we are separate from everything else; if we are units, unconnected, existing like islands, then only can we be unique. If we are part of the whole, then how can we be unique? Logically it looks absurd, but existentially this is how it is: we are part of the whole and yet we are unique, because the whole is unique, and each part represents the whole and represents its uniqueness.
Individuality means your uniqueness – not compared with anybody else. Your incomparable uniqueness: that is individuality. Individuality is beautiful; that’s how existence has made you, as an individual. Ego is a comparison. Ego is your invention. Existence has not given you any ego. It has certainly given you individuality.
Krishna is saying merge in yourself and you will find me, you will be yogi. In that moment you will see the true equality of all beings, in both their happiness and their distress.
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