TRUTH IS SIMPLE 

There is no labour involved in seeking Truth, it is as natural and effortless as respiration, provided we understand its basic nature. There is nothing one needs to assume or add on to our wearied souls, already loaded with artifice. If anything, we need to shed our layers of acquired knowledge, one by one, like one does peel the layers of a seed, to reach the kernel which is the basic building block. Our human souls, likewise, are formed of many layers, acquired during the course of our journey through life and death, which must be removed to reveal the unbreakable spirit within. This spirit is the essence of our soul and is one whole. No further divisions are possible and it is this very core we have to know, to know our true selves. It is the answer to the timeless question, ‘Who are we?’. To reach it, is actually very simple. Peel off the layers and get to the bottom. That is all that one needs to do. The material view, on the other hand, has as its primary focus, concealment of our true nature and addition of layers upon layers to our incorporeal consciousness. It originates in the deep rooted but seldom expressed belief that truth is uncomfortable. Truth leaves us exposed, vulnerable and solitary. To beat the discomfort, we take refuge in a cloak. Superficially warm, we do not realize how this cloak weakens our spirit over time. We learn to avoid the truth because we have been conditioned to disparage anything that has not been ‘refined’ by our material standards of acceptance. The layers get added at each phase of our multi dimensional lives, as a result of educational, emotional, physical, psychological, political, religious and social conditioning. The more the layers, the more is the acceptance and approval in the material world. You end up gaining the world but losing yourself – your ‘real’ Self in all that charade. ..............Om Shanti!

                                           Contemplation and Enlightenment

Mind is not consciousness and the inability to distinguish between consciousness and mind is the major difficulty in our pursuit for the ‘Real’. Mind is involved in twofold process viz. firstly, mind’s identification of being with becoming and secondly, mistaking consciousness for thinking. When we are ‘aware’, we are aware only through mind, and there seems no other way of being aware, so that our consciousness has become veritably a kind of process. The nature of being is not the nature of thinking - mind is not consciousness. ‘To think is to be’ has become our attitude in life but this is not the fact. ‘To think’ need not ‘to be’, and being is not thinking. The primary entanglement is the one between consciousness and thought, and the secondary entanglement is the engagement of thought in certain contingencies of experience. We are in the double bondage of being identified with the process of thought, and the process of thought having been identified with the limitations of space and time. This is the condition into which our true state has apparently degenerated itself. The purpose of concentration and meditation is to free the essence of experience from the extraneous factors of the world of space, time and causality in which the mind moves, acts and seems to be involved. 

When you think about the past, it is only in the present. Likewise, we think of the future only in the present. We can never live either in the past or in the future because they do not exist when we talk of them. Now come to the present, it is so slippery like a ball of mercury on the ground that by the time we speak ‘present’, it will slip away from you. What is the meaning of time then? When there is no time, where is the question of birth, death, existence, all that we speak of. To think of existence or non-existence or even to think of God, there must be time. And that time has disappeared by your own analysis. Then where are we now? Let the mind dwell on this point. Quantum physics, which is very difficult to understand, is proving the same thing. Here we are using simple logic. Time dissolves. Can you prove the existence of past, present or future? Once you accept this, where is birth or death? Going deeper into the matter, the Upanishadic seers have, through intuition, ‘seen’ the ultimate cause or essence, the Consciousness which appears as the world. Therefore, they call this world of senses an illusion because it is not really as it appears. It is rather, pure Awareness, which is the Self of all. A man is, therefore, not a man but Consciousness masquerading as a man. A tree is not a tree but the Consciousness appearing as a tree. A mountain is not a mountain but the Consciousness in the disguise of a mountain. This is the case with all objects without any exception. So, our vision has to be reversed. To many this will sound strange if not nonsensical. The meditation prescribed is called the ‘neti, neti’ (not this, not this) method of reflection Every object, whether gross or subtle, a physical object or a mental concept, a name or a thought is really a limitation superimposed on Consciousness. Why does one negate everything? Because nothing can satisfy the conditions of Immortality and Infinity. Some say ‘sarvam khalvidam brahma’ (All this is Absolute) is the best definition of the Absolute, according to which even this body, a stone on the roadside, the sun in the heaven, etc, etc. has to be considered as the Absolute. Others argue that the best definition is the great declaration –neti, neti. according to which the Absolute is that which is after the complete negation of all that is objective and subjective. But whichever definition you use, don’t think that you have understood it. Neither can be understood by the intellect because the intellect itself is a part of the non-existent world. The Truth is there is no world except or other than God. Don’t try to think too much, that is dangerous. Along with this, cultivate devotion to Lord, some kind of prayer and worship to be combined with this reflection and meditation. Do not over exert because you are trying to think about that which is unthinkable. .........................Om Shanti!

                                                   TIME IS ILLUSORY

When you think about the past, it is only in the present. Likewise, we think of the future only in the present. We can never live either in the past or in the future because they do not exist when we talk of them. Now come to the present, it is so slippery like a ball of mercury on the ground that by the time we speak ‘present’, it will slip away from you. What is the meaning of time then? When there is no time, where is the question of birth, death, existence, all that we speak of. To think of existence or non-existence or even to think of God, there must be time. And that time has disappeared by your own analysis. Then where are we now? Let the mind dwell on this point. Quantum physics, which is very difficult to understand, is proving the same thing. Here we are using simple logic. Time dissolves. Can you prove the existence of past, present or future? Once you accept this, where is birth or death? Going deeper into the matter, the Upanishadic seers have, through intuition, ‘seen’ the ultimate cause or essence, the Consciousness which appears as the world. Therefore, they call this world of senses an illusion because it is not really as it appears. It is rather, pure Awareness, which is the Self of all. A man is, therefore, not a man but Consciousness masquerading as a man. A tree is not a tree but the Consciousness appearing as a tree. A mountain is not a mountain but the Consciousness in the disguise of a mountain. This is the case with all objects without any exception. So, our vision has to be reversed. To many this will sound strange if not nonsensical. The meditation prescribed is called the ‘neti, neti’ (not this, not this) method of reflection Every object, whether gross or subtle, a physical object or a mental concept, a name or a thought is really a limitation superimposed on Consciousness. Why does one negate everything? Because nothing can satisfy the conditions of Immortality and Infinity. Some say ‘sarvam khalvidam brahma’ (All this is Absolute) is the best definition of the Absolute, according to which even this body, a stone on the roadside, the sun in the heaven, etc, etc. has to be considered as the Absolute. Others argue that the best definition is the great declaration –neti, neti. according to which the Absolute is that which is after the complete negation of all that is objective and subjective. But whichever definition you use, don’t think that you have understood it. Neither can be understood by the intellect because the intellect itself is a part of the non-existent world. The Truth is there is no world except or other than God. Don’t try to think too much, that is dangerous. Along with this, cultivate devotion to Lord, some kind of prayer and worship to be combined with this reflection and meditation. Do not over exert because you are trying to think about that which is unthinkable.

In a series of rapidly moving films, we see a man standing like a motionless statue. Our eyes and mind are incapable of coping with the rapidity of the movement of the films. Similar is the case with our perception of the world, including our own body. The eyes and other organs together with the mind, through which we perceive the external world of objects, are not able to catch up with velocity of the electromagnetic vibrations constituting the world. Hence, they appear as objects to the eyes, as sound to the ears, as smell to the nose, etc. So, the world is not really as it appears to our senses.

All created individuals in bodies are, like rivers, tending towards the ocean of the Absolute. Their reaching the pure Being, which is the Absolute, is just like the rivers entering the ocean. If you take a tumbler of water from the ocean you do not know which river-water you are taking. The rivers become the ocean and they do not know where they are, yet they are there. We cannot say that the rivers are absent in the ocean. So, it is not a negation of individuality, but a transcendence of individuality. It is not that the rivers are destroyed there, but they are absorbed into a larger Being, into a greater reality of themselves, which is their Self. So is the case with all of us. All Beings in creation tend towards the ocean of the Ultimate Being. When they go there, they cannot distinguish themselves, for they become ONE with BEING.

Like water, consciousness has no shape. As water assumes the shape of container, so the consciousness takes the shape of your thought and concepts. It reveals through your conditioned mind. Mind is not consciousness and the inability to distinguish between consciousness and mind is the major difficulty in our pursuit for the ‘Real’. Mind is involved in twofold process viz. firstly, mind’s identification of being with becoming and secondly, mistaking consciousness for thinking. When we are ‘aware’, we are aware only through mind, and there seems no other way of being aware, so that our consciousness has become veritably a kind of process. The nature of being is not the nature of thinking - mind is not consciousness. ‘To think is to be’ has become our attitude in life but this is not the fact. ‘To think’ need not ‘to be’, and being is not thinking. The primary entanglement is the one between consciousness and thought, and the secondary entanglement is the engagement of thought in certain contingencies of experience. We are in the double bondage of being identified with the process of thought, and the process of thought having been identified with the limitations of space and time. This is the condition into which our true state has apparently degenerated itself. The purpose of concentration and meditation is to free the essence of experience from the extraneous factors of the world of space, time and causality in which the mind moves, acts and seems to be involved. ....................Om Shanti!

How Desires Arise

The soul for the purpose of ensuing subject is not the Universal Soul; it is rather the bound soul and no one can be bound unless there is a concentralisation of desire at a spatio-temporal point. Why a child does choose only one particular set of parents, out of endless number? It is desire that is born, not a child. The human being is a shape taken by a mass of desires. Universal Consciousness arranges itself into a point of concentration and finitises itself. As from a huge conflagration several sparks shot out which are the individuals. But unfortunately, each spark asserted individuality of its own. Desire is the nature of the soul that incarnates, but desire is nothing but to fulfil a need; an unfulfilled desire is a malady. This point of desire has lost everything by disconnecting itself from the Universal Being; as if a person who has lost everything, wants everything, in a negative way. You have lost the Infinite and therefore now you want an infinite desire to fulfil itself through contact with numberless finite objects. But numberless finites put together do not make Infinite. Uncontrollable is desire because we have made a mistake in imagining that nature is outside us. 
All different desires are but modifications of one desire alone. The different desires are only the different means adopted for the fulfilment of one single desired end which is Absolute Bliss. We do not want to be partially happy and partially unhappy because such happiness has no meaning. We want absolute happiness and peace, so it is termed as ‘Absolute Bliss'. Bliss is the culmination of all our struggle with the life; with the world or with the universe, whatever we call it. Our innermost being is also seeking God as a matter of spirituality and substantially, these two apparently opposite quests are not different in nature. The ‘outside-ness’ and the ‘within-ness’ have been created because of the body consciousness. Therefore, the Bliss that we are longing for and the notion of God are the same thing and identical. ...Hari Om!

Why Did Swami Vivekananda Die So Young?

Pure Existence

"Give up all your prejudices and preconceived notions, and consider what are you in deep sleep. It is your own experience, so it cannot be difficult to know. It is our own experience; everyday we are having it. Yet, we throw it away and dismiss it as ‘only deep sleep’. No one will say that he did not exist in deep sleep. Body is not there. World is not there. Thoughts are not there. There is no ‘I and you’, ‘God and world’, ‘pleasure and pain’, ‘good and bad’, ‘existence or non-existence’. All the pairs of opposites have gone. It appears to be an unconscious state because there are no objects there of which to be conscious. You existed in deep sleep. You must have been there. Remembrance always follows experience and there is no experience unless there is consciousness. So, in deep sleep, you exist not as the triad (experience, experiencing, experienced ), but as the one homogeneous Consciousness. In the deep sleep state, nobody sees any objects. The whole creation, including one’s own body and mind, are not seen because they have dissolved. There is no proof to show that when you are asleep, there is a world outside. Your friend, the world he saw while you were sleeping, including your sleeping body lying on the bed, all are thoughts in your mind that occur only during the waking state. During deep sleep, there is no world. So, every moment there is dissolution, and the next moment creation, and the next moment dissolution again. And in between is the existence of the world. This goes on incessantly; this is manifestation, manifestation of the unmanifest. In fact, these are not two. These are all words and ideas formed by us to explain the Truth that is beyond all words. The manifest state ( dream and waking states) and the unmanifest state ( which is called deep sleep or the moment between two thoughts ) are not two. There are no two states here, but they appear as two. The Absolute is neither manifest nor unmanifest. But one thing is certain: throughout all these apparent changes, ‘you’ are there; the ‘real- I’ in you is there. Who is this ‘I’ – that you must know. So, we begin our analysis with the deep sleep state, as we were ‘before creation’, as it were. In the beginning, scriptures say, ‘I alone was’. Body is not there. World is not there. Thoughts are not there. But ‘you’ are there, which no one will deny. Remember, you go into the state of deep sleep everyday willingly, consciously, voluntarily, making all necessary preparation like a comfortable bed, soft pillow and saying ‘good night, please don’t disturb me now’, even to your dearest one. You like that state. You enjoy it, leaving everything behind, possessed by you. Everyday you exist very happily without body and world. We now come to the dream. You saw it. But now you know it was not. Your dreamed body-mind is as real or unreal as are the other objects in the dream. It is the ‘I’ of deep sleep that projected the dream world. Upon awakening (into the dream world or waking state ), the undifferentiated Consciousness of deep sleep divides itself, as though, into the observer who sees and the observed that is seen. First comes the ‘me’ and then immediately comes the ‘you’, meaning the whole world. The whole world appears as an object to me, the subject. But every object thinks itself as the subject. Are we subject or object? We are neither. Both come under phenomena, both are appearances only. Do we regard ourselves as wholly present in sleep or partially present in sleep? We cannot say that only a part of ourselves was in sleep. We are sure that the whole of ourselves was present in sleep. The whole of us was present in deep sleep – not a part of us. Then what is it that we call ‘I’ in waking and dreaming states? Do we add to the whole? Nobody can add to the whole. When we say, “I was wholly present in deep sleep,” we do not add anything to ourselves when we come into the waking condition. So many things attract us and confront us, and we are obliged to pay attention to them. Is the body a part of ourselves? Are the senses a part of ourselves? We may say ‘yes’. Then we must say that in the state of deep sleep, we were not wholly present, because a part of us was outside! The body, the senses, our friends and relationships – they were all outside. If we are wholly present in sleep, unrelated to anything else, then the unrelated condition is wholeness – not the related condition. So, relationships are essentially false! This is what is implied in an analysis of deep sleep. Relationships are not true because they do not belong to the whole. What does not belong to the whole cannot even exist. What can be outside the whole? This is why some people say that the world does not really exist. Why were we not conscious in sleep, and yet seemed to be conscious in sleep? This enigma is what is called ‘ignorance’. Ignorance is not an absence of consciousness. Ignorance is rather a difficulty in knowing a situation – that is what is called ‘ignorance’. Our true nature seems to be undivided, and at the same time a state of consciousness without which memory is impossible. What then am I truly? I am unrelated consciousness, not related consciousness, because one cannot have relations with whole. Our true nature is, by implication we learn, unrelated wholeness of consciousness. It is not part consciousness, but whole consciousness, unconnected with anything else. The whole earth may be ours, but if we are not able to sleep, which would we choose – sleep or emperorship of the earth, because we cannot exchange sleep with emperorship; and no one can! The emperor is not made happy merely through relationship." …………………..Om Shanti!

THE GOLDEN MEAN
If we take any creation as one unit, its manifestation is produced by conjunct of two half units. 1=+1/2 & -1/2. One complete unit comprises of two aspects of the same reality. We inhale and exhale and that is one unit of breath. The rotation of a wheel is caused by forward and backward motion of the engine’s piston. A bird flutters its wings up and down and flies. We are not aware of waking world in our deep sleep and modest estimations hold that during half of our life, we are not really awake. Half of the earth shines brighter under the sun and other half experiences darkness. A pendulum completes one cycle by swinging in two different directions. Good and bad, life and death, day and night, cause and effect, masculine and feminine, positive and negative are apparently two features between which we calibrate our thought, attitude, judgment and action. We are always between two facets of One Truth and we unleash our mind to follow one flank, denouncing another. We are not here to judge what is correct and what is not. Accept all versions, enjoy and swallow them. We have to transcend all the conditions and ‘perceive’ the Truth. We represent the Absolute and Absolute finds its expression in the golden mean. ....................Om Shanti!

Un-fetter Love!

While God is love, God is also law. He will not break a law merely for the sake of love notwithstanding the fact that He is infinite love. If you are driven by emotion in your yearning rather than by intelligence or proper understanding, He is not going to jump from the skies on your call.
There is a rationality behind the laws of the universe. Nothing is outside the purview of the Sovereignty of Eternal Law. It is this rationality that determines not only natural functions such as the seasons, sunrise, meticulous configuration of inter-planetary motions and more , our destiny of birth and death. From childhood we have grown up to our present state and all processes, including the bodily reactions of hunger, thirst, sleep and so on – everything conceivable – all rules and regulations, needs and necessities are explicable only in terms of this cosmic order, which is an expression of the indivisibility of things. Now, the yearning or love, when it is directed to an object outside, becomes a psychological condition, and if love of God is also to become a psychological condition, then it may change according to the conditions of the mind. The conditional relationship of our individuality with circumstances outside prevents us from having any kind of genuineness in our approach to things or in our affections. God is not affected by anything that usually affects the individual, and therefore, the defects of the individual are not present in God. The question of egoism, or the principle of individual affirmation, does not arise in the case of God and He is beyond likes and dislikes. We suffer because we do not conform to the existent laws of nature as a whole. Law of God and law of nature is identical. We have no understanding of the laws of nature; we are not omniscient. But in case of God and those who have knowledge of God or experience of God, this question does not arise, because when there is God-consciousness, there is also an infinitude of awareness in respect of everything. Our action will then not be interference, but rather participation in the existing laws. Participation in law does not produce any reaction from that law, but interference with law may produce a reaction. Our concept of God is here a very important factor, which rules the destiny of our love for God. The love of God may become conditional if He is to be treated as an extra-cosmic something which has to be reached by a temporal affection in the form of a mental emotion. It is important that whether we succeed to 'convince' God that we love Him as per His prescription!
One must appreciate the distinction between the action of soul, that involves the ‘being’ and the action of emotion. Emotions are the vulnerable points of the personality and are induced by the mind. When one is under the sway of intense emotion, all his wisdom and rationality goes to dogs. This brings him much below the level of ‘reason’. Only intellect, with protracted practice, can redress it out. When ‘intellect/reason’ is fully matured and purified, it merges into the ‘intuition’ where the ‘being’ gets involved. There is no question of annihilating the mind or the intellect. Intuitive faculty transcends the lower aspects of mind. Further growth carries it to the higher levels of consciousness. Thus, emotional love and whole-souled love are to be comprehended from two different perspectives. Om!

Consciousness is Undivided, Unrelated!

Give up all your prejudices and preconceived notions, and consider what are you in deep sleep. It is your own experience, so it cannot be difficult to know. It is our own experience; everyday we are having it. Yet, we throw it away and dismiss it as‘only deep sleep’. No one will say that he did not exist in deep sleep. Body is not there. World is not there. Thoughts are not there. There is no ‘I and you’, ‘God and world’, ‘pleasure and pain’, ‘good and bad’, ‘existence or non-existence’. All the pairs of opposites have gone. It appears to be an unconscious state because there are no objects there of which to be conscious. You existed in deep sleep. You must have been there. Remembrance always follows experience and there is no experience unless there is consciousness. So, in deep sleep, you exist not as the triad (experience, experiencing, experienced), but as the one homogeneous Consciousness. In the deep sleep state, nobody sees any objects. The whole creation, including one’s own body and mind, are not seen because they have dissolved. There is no proof to show that when you are asleep, there is a world outside. Your friend, the world he saw while you were sleeping, including your sleeping body lying on the bed, all are thoughts in your mind that occur only during the waking state. During deep sleep, there is no world. So, every moment there is dissolution, and the next moment creation, and the next moment dissolution again. And in between is the existence of the world. This goes on incessantly; this is manifestation, manifestation of the unmanifest. In fact, these are not two. These are all words and ideas formed by us to explain the Truth that is beyond all words. The manifest state ( dream and waking states) and the unmanifest state ( which is called deep sleep or the moment between two thoughts ) are not two. There are no two states here, but they appear as two. The Absolute is neither manifest nor unmanifest.  But one thing is certain: throughout all these apparent changes, ‘you’ are there; the ‘real- I’ in you is there. Who is this ‘I’ – that you must know. So, we begin our analysis with the deep sleep state, as we were 'before creation’, as it were. In the beginning, scriptures say, ‘I alone was’. Body is not there. World is not there. Thoughts are not there. But ‘you’ are there, which no one will deny. Remember, you go into the state of deep sleep everyday willingly, consciously, voluntarily, making all necessary preparation like a comfortable bed, soft pillow and saying ‘good night, please don’t disturb me now’, even to your dearest one. You like that state. You enjoy it,leaving everything behind, possessed by you. Everyday you exist very happily without body and world. We now come to the dream. You saw it. But now you know it was not. Your dreamed body-mind is as real or unreal as are the other objects in the dream. It is the ‘I’ of deep sleep that projected the dreamworld. Upon awakening (into the dream world or waking state ), the undifferentiated Consciousness of deep sleep divides itself, as though, into the observer who sees and the observed that is seen. The scripture is telling us that the waking and dreaming states are not different in substance. First comes the ‘me’ and then immediately comes the ‘you’, meaning the whole world. The whole world appears as an object to me, the subject. But every object thinks itself as the subject. Are we subject or object? We are neither. Both come under phenomena, both are appearances only. Do we regard ourselves as wholly present in sleep or partially present in sleep? We cannot say that only a part of ourselves was in sleep. We are sure that the whole of ourselves was present in sleep. The whole of us was present in deep sleep – not a part of us. Then what is it that we call ‘I’ in waking and dreaming states? Do we add to the whole? Nobody can add to the whole. When we say, “I was wholly present in deep sleep,” we do not add anything to ourselves when we come into the waking condition. So many things attract us and confront us, and we are obliged to pay attention to them. Is the body a part of ourselves? Are the senses a part of ourselves? We may say ‘yes’. Then we must say that in the state of deep sleep, we were not wholly present, because a part of us was outside! The body, the senses, our friends and relationships –they were all outside. If we are wholly present in sleep, unrelated to anything else, then the unrelated condition is wholeness – not the related condition. So, relationships are essentially false! This is what is implied in an analysis of deep sleep. Relationships are not true because they do not belong to the whole. What does not belong to the whole cannot even exist. What can be outside the whole? This is why some people say that the world does not really exist. Why were we not conscious in sleep, and yet seemed to be conscious in sleep? This enigma is what is called ‘ignorance’. Ignorance is not an absence of consciousness. Ignorance is rather a difficulty in knowing a situation – that is what is called ‘ignorance’. Our true nature seems to be undivided, and at the same time a state of consciousness without which memory is impossible! What then am I truly? I am unrelated consciousness, not related consciousness,because one cannot have relations with whole. Our true nature is, by implication we learn, unrelated wholeness of consciousness. It is not part consciousness, but whole consciousness, unconnected with anything else. The whole earth may be ours, but if we are not able to sleep, which would we choose– sleep or emperor-ship of the earth, because we cannot exchange sleep with emperor-ship; and no one can! The emperor is not made happy merely through relationship. …………………..Om Shanti!

Tell me what should I ask of you

What shall I ask of you
 Steadfastness of mountains
 Softness of flowers
 An earth bedecked with flowers and bees
 Or the bottom of the empty sky
 Everything that I want to ask is finite
 Shall I ask for a beautiful printed image
 Or a gem from the ocean
 Or the gentle smile of a lotus
 Or the divine sward of lord Shiva
 Or a deep blue radiance for my body
 Or the limitless universe
 Or the ocean’s horizon
 I just cannot think what to ask you
 You tell me what should I ask of you
 Should I ask for the exotic love of the evening sky
 Or the laughter of my beloved
 Or pleasure from the erotic lover
 Or rhythm from the divine lover
 I am still in a dilemma what to ask
 Tell me now what shall I ask you?
 My body tells me to ask for this
 My mind tells me to ask for that
 The heart tells me to ask only for this
 While wisdom tells me to ask only for that
 Shall I ask for this or that
Everything is impermanent, what shall I ask for?
 The soul in me whispers to ask for every thing
 To ask for what is truth and nothing else
 So why shouldn't I ask just for you?
 For you to be with me every moment
 So that I may ask you for whatever I want
 Whenever I want.

 OM!

Our segregation from the pure Consciousness that is Absolute Bliss, ensued, as if, an innocent baby grows and splits into multiple personalities, such as, being of particular name, cast, creed, color, religion, profession, good, bad, rich, poor, and all such artificial encrustations foisted upon the innocence. The essence was lost and phenomenal relationships, meanings, values and definitions became prevalent and dominant. A building, made of bricks was designated as prison when some people were detained therein, and, if, we began worshiping there, it was known as temple or chapel. A huge gulf came into existence between ‘my son’ and ‘his son’. A small piece of paper became the currency when we added a value to it. The same person sometimes designated as a son and sometimes as a father. These encrustations kept on changing in view of the prevailing circumstances and requirements. The initial dichotomy from the Supreme Being created a sense of insecurity and resulted in fear. This fear impelled our souls to get attached to the outside objects, as falsely projected, consequent upon the deep rooted impulses of desire, to fill the space covered by the fear. Bliss was lost in the mutation. Thus, we created our own projected worlds. The attachment with the illusory world was further strengthened by the fear of losing it; and the poor ‘self’ got involved into a vicious circle of cause and effect. A process was set forth for the Infinite to assume a seeming finitude. All the projections and encrustations culminated into a rationalization for defining ourselves as a separate entity. From somewhere we have gone to somewhere else, without knowing the right direction. Stop defining yourself, shun all the encrustations and annihilate all the relational values to this phenomenal world. You will find yourselves at the same place from where your illusive march began. Right now, you are very much there. Nothing has changed but your concept and the thought process. Just abandon what you are not. ………Om Shanti!

The ‘maya’/illusion is non-different from the supreme Being, and hence as that Being itself, it is real. But when separated and conceived as something different from the Being, as the cause of this world, a separate entity again, then it is said to be unreal. When the cause is unreal, its effect – this world, also is unreal.. .....The story goes as - A rich merchant was traveling in a train with a heavy purse followed by a crook, who knew the fact somehow and managed to get accommodation just on the opposite bench of the same compartment. During the day, the merchant opened his purse several times for sundry purchases, assuring the thief that he was having considerable money. The merchant being very shrewd, knew that the man on the opposite bench was a crook who had come to rob him of his money. Both of them retired at night for rest, each of them pretending to have slept deeply. After midnight the thief slowly got up and searched for the purse in merchant’s coat pockets, in his box, under his bed, every nook and corner, but could not get it. The next day also merchant opened his purse many times assuring the thief that enough money is still there. Thief, a bit more determined this time, thought that he would surely get it the coming night, but again could not find it. Next morning, before reaching the destination, the thief just as a friend asked the merchant, where was he keeping his purse during the two nights? The merchant smiled and said: “O, I knew you were a crook who had come to steel my purse, so I kept it safely under your pillow”. The thief was abashed and suddenly disappeared in the crowd. …… We are making the same mistake. We are searching for the Atma/Self, which is one with us and one with everything, which is seated in the ‘heart’ – as though It is an object or person external to us. ………..Om!

Light is a phenomenon that itself is invisible but makes everything visible. By and large, we identify it with a physical source of light like the Sun, that reveals as a power point of cosmic mind. Light dispels the darkness, and ignorance is nothing but darkness in which we cannot comprehend the Reality. Only through the light of knowledge can we dispel the darkness of ignorance. Love, compassion, service, etc., are embodiments of divine light that make our acquaintance with Truth. Supreme Absolute Light is Omnipresent- Omniscient. Desire is the darkest aspect of human emotion that has created our separate identity and ego. As a shadow appears when light is intercepted by any object, so does the person arise when the Light of Pure Consciousness is obstructed by the desires of individuality. Therefore, in parlance of spiritual pursuit, the emphasis is always laid on the shedding of desire. In fact, spirituality is a process of negation; abrogate your body consciousness, withdraw the senses, shun the individuality, melt the ego and so on since the human mind and intellect, being finite in nature, cannot hold the Light of Infinite. The mind does not give us any independent knowledge apart from what we obtain through senses. Even the intellect is only a form of judgment that is passed on to the mind through synthesis of what has been gathered by the senses. So the intellect, the mind and the senses seem to be of a common group. The darkness which is being referred to here is, in fact, caused by the excessive Light of the Supreme. Excessive light have a blinding effect and that is why the Light of the Supreme is beyond the comprehension of human mind and senses. So we encounter darkness off and on in the phenomenal world. Consequent upon gradual shedding the darker layers of our personality, we also shed the darkness enshrouding our real Self, which alone is the Absolute Truth. Because of the limited range of frequencies in which the human mind and senses can function in time-space complex, one has to go back to the Real Source to regain the vibrancy of tired senses and mind. That is why we submit our self to the darkness of sleep every night, where we go without any single worldly possession or object. In that state of perfect repose, we become the Supreme Light, the Light of Pure Consciousness; beyond which nothing exists. But we fail to pierce the darkness of excessive Light of the Supreme, for our conditioning, without proper methodology. We are the Pristine Glory of our Source of Divine Light and our quest is for its ‘Realisation’. .................Om Shanti!

Once you are aware of ‘I Am’ consciousness, leave everything apart. ‘I’ may reveal as soul or witness; or in limited aspect as Mr.SK or a Hindu or a professional, so and so many, are the encrustations upon ‘I’ that disturb its transparency. ‘I Am’ is an affirmation of God to Himself. Do not stick to words and do not form any concept. ‘I Am’ is the same affirmation in everything, human or animal or sentient being, atomic or sub-atomic particle. Nobody gave ‘I Am’, not even our parents, for, It Is. No one can create It nor segregate from Its Source, That alone Is. It is not personal. This life provides an opportunity to purify ‘I’ and remove all the projections thrust upon It owing to the ignorance and restore Its pristine Glory, Majesty and Freedom. We are not learning but trying to realize the affirmation made by ‘I Am’. ‘I’/pure Consciousness/Absolute Existence is God Himself alone and nothing else exists. We live only in the present. We can never live in the future. We can never live in the past either. They are mere concepts in the mind, thoughts. It is not so easy to grasp the present also. It is so slippery, like a ball of mercury on the floor. The present also, when you think of it, will slip away from you. Without space and time, there is no existence or non-existence of the world. To think of existence or non-existence, or even to think of God, there must be time. And that time has disappeared by your own analysis. Then where are we now? Who are we now? Let the mind dwell on this point. Think, it will become clear. We are timeless and nameless experience of Pure Consciousness. When there is no time, where is the question of birth, death, existence, all that we speak of. The world exists in space and time. It is, rather, the pure awareness, which is the Self of all. A man is, therefore, not a man, but Consciousness masquerading as a man. A tree is not really a tree, but Consciousness appearing as a tree. This is the case with all objects without any exception. Therefore, our vision has to be reversed. To most of the people, this will sound very strange, fantastic, if not nonsensical. The meditation prescribed is called ‘neti, neti’; ‘not this, not this’, method of reflection. Through this reflection the whole world – including one’s own body, the subtle senses, the mind, the intellect and the ego, which are mistaken for the Self – is eliminated as not real ‘I’. This meditation removes the root cause of this malady of ours, which stems from ignorance of the Truth. ……………Om!

In one day, the three states go on rotating, exchanging; one giving place to the other. In waking state, I identify myself with this body. In dream state, I forget about this body and the world and am with another body for some time. And in deep sleep state, I remain without the body where I do not put the questions, nor entertain any desire, nor experience any dream, but enjoy pure and unalloyed bliss. And after enjoying the bliss of deep sleep, I again come to either the waking or dream state. So, how much confusion is there. Either I am this body, or the dream body, or without body. What is it that does not change in all the three states! It is the ‘I’ who is without body. What is that ‘I’? All problems will dissolve when you find that out. The ‘I’ in your deep sleep is not different than the ‘I’ in my deep sleep. Is the ‘I’ different on the basis of cast, color or creed or in any way? No. That is so of all beings, including animals, birds, insects, atoms and sub-atomic particles. Now, if you ask a question, “who is to realize or who is the dreamer”, this ‘who’ is not there. Does it come in deep sleep? Was there a ‘who’ there? You were there, sure. This is the clue. ‘I’ of deep sleep is the witness during waking and dreaming states, but in deep sleep does ‘I’ remain a witness? If it is a witness then it is definitely different from that what is witnessed! Who is there in deep sleep to be witnessed? What have you understood by the epithet ‘dream’? Does anything happen there? Nothing happens in Real. So is the case with waking state ‘I’ is, similarly, a witness too. You ARE the real witness, so, you cannot see Him. The supposed projections of ‘I’ is an activity of you as individual, a creation of ego. But ‘I’ remain unaffected. He alone is in this world. ‘I’ is The pure Existence-Consciousness-Bliss-Absolute, during all the three states, whether it is deep sleep without the appearance of the world including one’s own individual personality, or the two dream states where there seems to be an appearance of the world including one’s individual personality. The ‘I’ is like the water of the ocean of Consciousness whether the ocean is calm or with waves and ripples. God is Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient. All the three states are pervaded by Him only. In the state of deep sleep or Super-consciousness, He embraces Himself. He only is and nothing else. Your world is He. ‘Thou art That’. ................OM SHANTI!

Finite always resents to its present state and always tends to become Infinite i.e. Supreme Consciousness/Supreme Being. Infinite is all pervasive and immanent so, there is no question of its being in time-space complex. It is everywhere, in every time and everything. Finite, being the projection of limitations upon Infinite, in the process of breaking the barriers of finitude, appears to have assumed some kind of movement, so that it may seemingly cover the realm of Infinite. This movement is responsible for the creation of time-space-causation matrix. Though there is no movement in the Infinite for the reason of its being ever pervasive, immanent, omniscient. Any part of the ‘whole’ has the characteristics of ‘wholeness’, since the ‘whole’ is indivisible and immutable. The apparent part of finite that is the projection upon Infinite does not lose its relationship with the Infinite. Why does one negate everything in the finite realm? Because nothing can satisfy the conditions of Immortality and Infinity. Ego is the only aspect that identifies itself with the limitations imposed upon the Infinite by our senses, mind and intellect and ego is always fearful to lose its identity in the soul’s march towards Infinity. Ego is fear rooted and fear is the only product of attachments of the ego. However, finite can never affect Infinite. On the contrary, Infinity is the background for the finitude to assume and expand itself as the superimposition upon It. But any numbers of finite does not become Infinite and transcendence is a condition precedent for the realisation of Immanence and Omniscience. Therefore, the transmutation is not a spatio-temporal process. Pure Consciousness is Absolute Existence so, Absolute Bliss-Eternity, not bound by the shackles of time-space concept. Where are you going? Do not identify your self with the movement of ego. Be still. Do not seek God anywhere else. God is 'here' and 'now'. You have to de-conceptualise your notion of ‘here’ – that has been misunderstood as the part of ‘everywhere’ and ‘now’ – that has been mistook for a portion of the time. You are already in Great Liberation! Realise your Freedom and Eternity. ………………Om Shanti!

GOD IS BLISS >>>>> The finale of our, or for that reason all the sentient beings’ restlessness, aspirations and ultimate seeking, through virtuous or unscrupulous acts is aimed at gaining happiness and contentment. We want to be happy, finally, and we do not want the happiness of temporal nature or partial in magnitude. We want absolute happiness and peace, so it is termed as ‘Absolute Bliss’, because ‘happiness’ is a term of duality; ‘misery or unhappiness’ being the opposite expression. Bliss is the culmination of all our struggle with the life; with the world or with the universe, whatever we call it. Our innermost being is also seeking God as a matter of spiritual pursuit and substantially, these two apparently opposite quests are not different in nature. The ‘ouside-ness’ and the ‘within-ness’ have been created because of the body-consciousness. Therefore, the Bliss that we are aspiring to attain and the notion of God are the same thing and identical. Our great Masters of yore have always reiterated that God may be sought through spiritual path and the outside world is a delusion or false impression of fractional happiness. Fragmentary happiness is always followed by the sorrow and misery. These great Masters were not only teachers or preachers of humankind, but they themselves, at some point or the other, had been the seekers of Truth and they upheld that God is Bliss and It is the final answer to all the evolutionary process, incessant movement through the pauses of transient pleasure and pain. But the mankind chose to suffer because the simple way of self-restraint appeared arduous and against the turbulent temperament of a person. Yet, we have reason to believe in the deep recess of heart that we are in search of such peace and happiness that should be the conclusion of all searches, Supreme, Infinite and Absolute. Who is seeking this Bliss? It is the consciousness itself which is the silent witness of all the experiences that we undergo in the phenomenal world. So, there is an ‘existence’, which is not stony but ‘conscious’, that aspires to regain ‘bliss’. No any other reason may be attributed to the growth we experience in our day to day struggle of life either physically, mentally, psychologically or spiritually. Sometimes we endorse ‘love’ as being the ultimate substance of our existence. Of course, love as a glorious and majestic spring-board for the final leap into the ‘Unknown’ is imperative, but again the question arises whether love is the means or an end! The ultimate end of love is also to attain the Bliss. A common mind could not have comprehended the concept of higher abstraction other than love. Why should we love! Love has ultimately, to transcend and rise to a Higher Consciousness of Being. The ‘Absolute’ is inclusive of all the values, meanings and knowledge that is revealed in the preceding states and all these, finally, get transmuted into the highest state of Being, to address Oneness, Unity. Supreme Reality is not existence minus consciousness, and it is also not existence-consciousness minus happiness. Here, these three predicaments of limitation are ruled out. It is not temporal, located existence; it is all-existence. It is not unconscious existence but conscious existence. It is not merely conscious minus the sense of completeness, freedom, happiness, but it is that, also. So, it is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, not Existence ‘and’ Consciousness ‘and’ Bliss. No ‘and’ is possible there, no conjunction. It is Existence which is itself Consciousness and therefore Bliss. ..................Om Shanti!

Fear

“When I have fears that I may cease to be..
On the shore of the wide world I stand alone, and think,
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink..”

Fear. One of the most primal instincts that marks our ephemeral life on earth as long as it lasts and possesses our soul until it obtains freedom from our worldly existence. How fascinating is this strong instinct and how strongly does it hold us in its grip. So much so that we go through life experiencing barely half of its real essence. It holds us back, hedges in all other basic instincts. Sometimes for good reason. However, there’s a lot in life that just passes us by if we reject that which is God-given and free, in a false sense of insecurity, self preservation being our top goal.
It was an absolute necessity to bestow on us humans a certain degree of fear and a strong desire to preserve and prolong life, to make the species thrive and the world flourish. The tiniest of living creature was given this instinct, which humans, at the highest rung of the evolutionary ladder, have developed into an art. In the present times, this art has evolved into a highly sophisticated form, through which, we are forever devising novel ways of protecting ourself from nature and other species including ourself. We have developed weapons of mass destruction, to destroy one life and preserve another. We are engaged in a battle with the deadliest of viruses and cancers in our attempt at longevity. Most of our other pursuits are merely an extension of this basic desire to live and thrive. Without the fear for life, there could not be a desire to protect it. The two co-exist. We protect the one we fear for and because of the fear it gets protected. The instinct is heightened in mothers of new borns. The greater the vulnerability, greater the fear for its existence and greater the attempt at preservation.
Fear protects and guards against excesses, forcing us to weigh circumstances and choose wisely. It enables us to preserve, conserve and nourish life as it was meant to be and restrains reckless, self destructive behavior. There is a strong case in favour of the right kind of fear – the kind that is positive and reaffirming of life and nature. What is destructive is the negative kind of fear that inhibits the natural flow of energy and marks our response to life with feelings of insecurity, lack of faith and apathy. There is a lot of abundance in life that we miss each day we live, if we harbor this fear. And, like a worm in the gut, it slowly eats upon our soul, nibbling away until a hollowness remains and all positive feeling is gone.
The negative, energy-sapping fear leads us into a path forever darkened by shadows of doubt and despair. Because Fear, whether positive or negative, is a very potent force. It might not be always apparent, but it is much more forceful and impactful that a more overt instinct like say, anger, which almost always manifests. Fear might not always manifest, but its grip is stronger and more binding. And the best or worst part is that it always originates and affects the owner. Distrust of a person or fear of a situation might be triggered because of external presence, however, they always originate in me and they will always eat into my soul. If I doubt someone, the doubt resides in me. If a situation is scary, the fear resides in me and not in the situation. Things are only as fearsome as I perceive them in my mind. However, as a reaction to my fear, I begin to manipulate the external factors. I try to put shackles on my child who shows risky behavior or I try to avoid situations that inspire fear or manipulate them to get rid of my fear. What I forget is that manipulating a situation or person will not remove the fear, only conceal it. I am attempting to alter the destination of fear and neglecting the source or origin. Here I inflict a double wrong – for one, I spend my effort where it will be in vain and might also aggravate the situation or the person concerned and for another, I do not introspect and so leave the origin of fear intact. I forget that the fear is still where it was and it will strike again, and again, and again.
The only way to rid ourselves of this fear is to accept it as our own and then get away from it. For permanent resolution, the only action we can take is against ourself. This negative fear is a burden on our souls; one that must be shed, in our pursuit of true happiness.

Secret of Consciousness!

If you study the Upanishads and such mystical text of high spiritual significance, you will realize that the Supreme Being, the Absolute, is designated in its primordial condition as a Supreme Darkness due to excess of light. This adjective or qualification ‘due to excess of light’ must be added. It is darkness because of the excess of light. When you look at the sun directly for a few minutes and then look elsewhere, you will see only darkness. The sun has dazzled you to such an extent that all else appears as darkness. The intensity of light is such that it looks like darkness to the eyes of man. There is the hymn of the Rigveda called 'Nasadiya Sukta', regarding the original condition of creation, wherein it is said, “Tama asit tamasa gudhamagre”; Darkness there was; at first concealed in darkness.

Generally, to know is to know an object; and if it is not to know an object, it is not to know anything at all. Do you know the reason, what is the necessity to fall asleep every night? The necessity is psychological and, to some extent, highly metaphysical. The whole body, the whole nervous system, the entire psychological apparatus becomes active in the process of the perception of objects. And without our knowing what is happening, the senses get tired. The reason is that perception is an unnatural process from the point of view of consciousness as such. Perception of an object is the alienation of an aspect of our personality through the avenue of a particular sense in respect of its object. All this is difficult for many to grasp. This is a highly psychological secret. Consciousness is indivisible. Consciousness is undivided; it is incapable of division into two sections – subject and object. On the basis of this fact there cannot be a division between the seer and the seen in the process of perception.

In dream what do you see when things are not there? What happens in dream is that there is an alienation of the mind into the objects of perception; and the mind itself becomes the objects seen there. There is tension created due to the separation of a part of the mind into the object and a part of it existing as the perceiving subject. That is why we are restless in dream. We cannot be happy. It is neither waking nor it is sleep. It is very difficult to be happy in this condition because a tense situation of consciousness is created. What happened in dream, the same happens to us in the waking condition also. Just as the mind in dream divided itself into two sections i.e. the perceiving subject and the object that was seen; in the waking state also, it divides itself into the subject and object. It is like a divided personality. It is as if your own personality has been cut into two halves. Just as in dream you did not know that you were dreaming, in this waking also you do not know that you are in a state similar to dream. In deep sleep the senses and the intellect withdraw themselves into their source. There is no perceptional activity, and so the absence of perception is equated to the presence of darkness; the cosmic Primeval condition of the creative Will of God, before creation, a state appearing like darkness, or night – the night of the birth of Krishna and Jesus and the night of Siva. ………..OM SHANTI!

Between heaven and hell!


The idea of a heaven and hell is central to and so ingrained in all major religions of the world that it seems almost instinctive to mankind’s spiritual evolution. Almost all the spiritual gurus, prophets and messiahs preach nobility of thought and action, founded on the premise of a benevolent ‘Heaven’, where one gets rewarded for the good deeds, and a malevolent ‘Hell’ where punishment is meted out as divine retribution for ignoble deeds. Most people who believe in God, also believe in this reward and punishment system of the after-life where one gets entry into one or the other House of Judgement depending on which way the scales of their deeds dip. This belief is as prevalent as it is compelling and most people choose to lead a ‘good’ life through this belief. We uphold good deeds like caring for the old and infirm and decry foul ones primarily because on our moment of final departure, we would be answerable for our actions.

At the heart of the whole heaven and hell belief lies a deep rooted fear – the fear of judgement on our last day on earth and it is instilled in us from early days by well meaning parents or grandparents. Had this fear not existed, there would not have been any need to control our dark impulses. There cannot be any law without the psyche of fear governing our better judgement. However, a more subtle feeling that perpetuates this belief is the insecurity that permeates each moment of our ephemeral lives on earth. That, as mortals, we live in a less-than-perfect world. That despite being filled with all earthly comforts and pleasures, our world is subject to a lot of ugliness and negativity, which is why the ultimate goal of human existence is stated to be a union with the ‘perfect’ Being that is, God. All spiritual texts and religious leaders preach that. That our world is impermanent and imperfect and ultimately, we have to get out of it and continue the journey of our soul towards salvation. That perfection, in any pursuit, is the final destination and so, this world must be given up in the final pursuit of the soul.

The other aspect of this philosophy is the emphasis it places on the value of individual action, as against what is pre-ordained by divinity. Thus all spiritual teachers and prophets, whether it is Jesus or Krishna or Mohammad, exhort their followers to follow a path of good deeds and refrain from foul ones in their pursuit of salvation. However, having obtained enlightenment for themselves, they cannot grant enlightenment to their followers or make the world a better place. They can only direct us, lead us on the path to attain salvation, but cannot actually do it on our behalf. The action has to come from the individual alone and that is where the buck stops. So Krishna exhorted Arjun to pick up the bow and shoot, though he could end the battle right there. And Jesus went through the crucifixion and bled, though he could heal the wounds of others. But they chose to act within the bounds of grand scheme of human existence and to fulfill its divine predicament, Action is indispensable. Because Action is, truly, the only path to salvation. Act one must, good or bad, given the situation and our role in it, and for that we must get evaluated. This is a test of life in which one cannot be marked absent. One has to appear, and one has to go through the assessment. The cumulative effect of our deeds, big and small, that would determine the next course of journey for our souls, whether the road ahead would be strewn with boulders or laid out in red carpet. To act, therefore, is imperative. To act, in accordance with the natural order of justice is our true objective. And to experience the repercussions of our actions, our destiny. Into these basic tenets, all religions finally unfold their substance.

The intention of the originators of the great thoughts and the sages of divine experience were all wonderful. But, time has its own say in every matter and things slowly get diluted as time passes on. The pure gets adulterated until it loses all content, meaning and reality. The worst mistake that we can do in anything is to go to the extreme in it. Even truth can become untruth, when it is taken to the extreme.