Mansur al-Hallaj, the Sufi mystic, who had attained communion with God by delving deep into the innermost recesses of his being through intense meditation, would say: ‘Maa Fil Jubbati Illa-Allah’ – There is nothing inside the cloak but God.

The Self is encased not merely in one but four bodies: physical, astral, causal and supra-causal. The four states of consciousness corresponding to the four bodies are: waking, dream, deep sleep and transcendental respectively.

The causal state is referred to as the state of total darkness, the state of void, where one is completely unaware of one’s existence.

It is important for the spiritual aspirant to remain steadfast in his practice of meditation and to have unflinching faith in the Divine Power. This ultimately leads the seeker to the sublime state of turiya, in which the supra-causal body is experienced. In this state the seeker attains communion with God who manifests Himself in the form of the dazzling Blue Effulgence, called the Eternal Blue of Consciousness. The ego gets completely merged in the Divine Effulgence and all the past karmas of the seeker are burnt in the fire of atma-jnana.

In the words of Ramana Maharshi: “The world is perceived as an apparent objective reality when the mind is externalized, thereby abandoning its identity with the Self. When the world is thus perceived the true nature of the Self is not revealed; conversely, when the Self is realized, the world ceases to appear as an objective reality”.

Mansur al-Hallaj enjoyed perfect equanimity as he had gained access to the vast inner, spiritual kingdom by restraining the fickleness of mind. He would spontaneously utter the words “Ana’l haqq” – I am the Truth – in a state of spiritual ecstasy.

It is said that even after he was publicly crucified for taking the liberty of expressing his oneness with God, his mortal remains continued to utter these holy words.

Thus there is “nothing” inside except ‘Self’ which is to be realised.