शीलन
By एम. एन. राय
Summary
A limited existence I am, yet the unlimited I can comprehend! The moment I say "I," I become unlimited! That is, I do not become the doer; that limited existence does not become the one who is the self-aware consciousness itself! If I take the knowledge of the self, that is not the acquired knowledge of my intellect! Because the intellect is limited; a limited intellect cannot know anything about the limitless. The attempt to know the limitless through the limited is like breaking a pot! It can only be known in the state of "not-self"! In the state of not-self, the self becomes free from its physical bonds! That individual consciousness becomes separate and merges into the limitless light from which it emerged! --M. N. Roy
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Conclusion
The text explores the profound philosophical tension between the finite self and the infinite, suggesting that true understanding of the limitless cannot be achieved through the limited intellect. The implications point to a fundamental limitation of rational thought when confronting ultimate reality, as the mind can only grasp what is bounded. The outcome described is a transformative shift: liberation occurs not through intellectual accumulation but through a state of non-dual awareness (not-self), where individual consciousness sheds its physical bonds and merges back into the infinite source from which it originated. This dissolution of the personal self into boundless light represents the highest realization, transcending the ego's constraints and achieving unity with the absolute.