Then the second component of your search or longing is also clear.

Since you have a human consciousness, you always want to know.

There is a vacuum there.

Since you do not know many things, there is always a natural tendency, “to know”.

Until you know, you cannot keep quiet.

However much you know, you still want “to know”.

Even if you do not know what you want to know, still you want to know.

Thus, this is an endless quest leaving you in suspense until you know- everything.

Then only you will relax in peace.

Therefore the CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD in its teaching states “Have you known That, by knowing which everything is known spontaneously”.

And THAT is the knowledge of the Absolute.

This is the second component of your search or longing.

There is a nice story with respect to this “longing to know”.

The teacher tried to explain to his disciple, the meaning and the sense of this quest for knowledge, inherent in every being.

But to no avail.

So one fine day, he took a box, wrapped and covered it and gave it to his disciple, to be handed over to another teacher in the adjoining village, but with one instruction, not to open the box on any account. Now the disciple was intrigued to know what was inside the box. As he opened it out popped a mouse and ran away. Ashamed he returned back to his teacher with the box.

And the teacher said, this is the “longing to know” that I was trying to explain to you.

And Einstein said, the whole world is looking for the black cat in a dark room, which is not there.

Thus Einstein with his wisdom was humble in acknowledging the mystifying mystery of the Universe with a question mark!

WHAT is it?

WHERE from?

And the imponderable WHY? of it.

Thus all search outside, forever lasting knowledge is futile.

True knowledge is within and you are It.

When you truly know yourself, you will know all that which has to be known.

Look within to know yourself.

Hence to know yourself, be yourself. BE YOURSELF.

BE YOUR SELF, to know yourself.

For this;

withdraw from everything you are not.

Withdraw from the body.

withdraw from the senses.

withdraw from the mind.

withdraw from the intellect.

withdraw from your ego.

Then you will arrive at the door-step of your Self.

Now be quiet and become alive.

All those years you were dead.

Spiritual life is becoming alive to your true being,

your Atman within.

Thus the second component of your longing is that you want to be all-knowing.

To have ABSOLUTE KNOWLEDGE spontaneously.

For this to be so, your very existence should be of the nature or texture of knowledge itself.

Just as light is the natural character of the Sun, so too knowledge is an intrinsic nature of your existence.

No need to need or even use a mind “to know”.

Thus mind is dispensed with.

It is an existence without a mind.

Thus the mind is automatically transcended or dropped in order to arrive at this remarkable and wonderous all-knowing

state of existence.