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.

Towards the end of the Seventeenth Chapter we are given the cryptic message of “ Om-Tat-Sat”, a term with which we are all familiar, but the meaning of which is not always so clear. It is said that this is a very holy expression and it has to be employed in every religious performance. We conclude all pious acts with the utterance, Om-Tat-Sat, which appears to be an invocation of God at the end of a performance. The meaning of these words is not clear, and no commentary on the Gita will perhaps be an aid to us in understanding what these three terms actually signify. We merely say, Om-Tat-Sat. We do not know what it means. Well, we may go a little deep into its significance from the point of view of the Bhagavadgita itself, in the light of the great message that has been given to us through its various Chapters. And in this light if we look at these terms, it would appear that the three seeds, Om, Tat, Sat signify the total comprehensiveness of the nature of Brahman ranging beyond the concepts of Reality in the form of transcendence and immanence. Generally, a remote thing is referred to as Tat, in the Sanskrit language. ‘That’ is Tat. We refer to God as Tat, It, etc. as a super transcendent inaccessible something. Sat is the very same transcendent Reality is hidden and present as the Divine immanence in all things. God is transcendent and also immanent. He is above us; he is inside. Now, these ideas of transcendence and immanence, - Tat-Sat,- the notions of God being outside as well as inside, are also to be transcended in a larger grasp, which is Om. Here, in this mystical significance of the well-known symbol of Om, we are given a further transcendence of both the transcendent aspect and the immanent aspect of the Absolute. It is, in the language of the Upanishad, the Bhuma, or the Plenum, the completeness whereby we cannot look upon it either as something above us or as something within us. To that supreme completeness, there are no outward and inward differences. There is no such thing as going above and being within, because it is everywhere, at all times, without the limitations of space, time and objectivity. Such an incomprehensible significance is embedded in this mystical formula of Om. Naturally, it is a holy expression, which is unutterable, beyond understanding but signifying everything that is blessed and supreme. Such is Om, which grasps within itself all that is real everywhere, the transcendent and the immanent. So, God is all, the Absolute is everything. The invocation of this Symbol in our experience, in our own consciousness, a remembrance of it at the sacred conclusion of any kind of performance, religious or otherwise, is regarded as a completion of that performance. God completes everything, and everything is incomplete where God is absent. The only thing that is full is God. And so He has to be invoked always. ~~ “ The Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita by Rev. Swami Krishnananda.”

OM
“By pronouncing OM properly, the heart and the mind are filled with peace, tranquility and bliss. You can feel the limitless ocean of power and energy within you. In order to acquire and possess this invaluable treasure of Nature, the Bliss and Peace, OM works as a key to unlock the coffer. The sound of OM, filling the entire atmosphere, gives immediate relief to humanity. At the end of the prayers in Jewish, English or Arabian languages, the word Amen, or Aamin, is nothing but the changed form of OM. The last word of the Greek language is Omegh which has the prominence of OM. Also, in the English words, omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient, the eminence of OM is distinct. The presence of OM in these words is not just by chance. It is on account of the word Om that these words give the indication of universalism. Om is like a huge tree, casting its cool shadow all around and providing peaceful and refreshing relief and energy to all those suffering from the scorching heat of pain, affliction, worry, anxiety, etc.
In every beginning of Koran, at the top, there are three letters, Alif (A ) Lam ( l ) and Mim (m ). Lam (L ) can be pronounced as Wao ( O ), according to Arabic grammar, under certain circumstances. In Arabic Shamsaldin is read as Samsuddin. Nizamaldin is read as Nizamuddin. According to Arabic grammar, when Lam (L ) comes between a vowel and a consonant, it becomes silent and gives the sound of Arabic Pesh (O or U ). Similar is the case here with Alif (A) , Lam (L ) and Mim (M). Here Lam (L ) is in between the vowel Alif (A ) and the consonant Mim (M) and, therefore, it becomes silent and gives the sound of O or U. Accordingly, Alif, Lam and Mim give the sound of Alif(A) Wao (O or U) and Mim(M) i.e. AOM oa AUM. This is nothing but Om. This is no secret of God, as it is said.
The conch shell, when blown, gives out the sound of Om which diverges in the space to spread peace, concentration and self-confidence in the atmosphere. This stimulates the heart to be merged in Godhood. It has been since birth. When a child is born, he cries with the sound of Om. When the children play and their minds are saturated with happiness, they produce a noise which resembles that of Om. When people fall sick or are afflicted with some unbearable pain, they invariably groan which produces the sound resembling Om. This gives them relief from their agonizing pain.” ~ Excerpt from the work of Rev. Swami Ramtirth.

“The vowel sounds produced by the voice are due to the vibrations of two cartilaginous plates, the "vocal chords" placed at the top of wind pipe, edge to edge with a narrow slit between them; air blown through this slit from the lungs keeps the plate vibrating. The apparatus is really a free reed, the vocal chords have muscles attached to them which can vary the frequency of the vibration and the pitch of the sound produced. The vowel are continuous sounds formed by varying the size and shape of mouth cavity. The consonants are particular interruptions of these sounds. They cut short the vowel sound but cannot themselves be sounded without vowels. And for this reason, the vowels are known as 'Shaktis'.” ~ Excerpt from Sir John Woodroffe

AUM contains three letters; A starts from the initial manifestation with throat, U comes to the mouth and M ceases with closing of lips. These cover the entire vocal phenomenon.....all words, languages are enshrined within these three...A,U,M.

Failures Are Good
It pains me to hear about a 8th standard student ending her life because of failure in her annual exams. Or a promising medical graduate hanging from his ceiling fan because he could not make it through the MD exam. Ending life because of rejection by girlfriend or boyfriend make up most other headlines. It makes me wonder how ill equipped our children are to face failures and setbacks in life. And what is life without failures and setbacks? Perhaps it the mindset we are inculcating in our children. That success is about never failing, never having to face tough situations, never going through lean periods. Unnatural, isn’t it, when everything in life is so ephemeral. Seasons change, geographies change, people change. And yet, we perpetuate the belief that a change from good to bad is not acceptable. Reading about suicides makes me sick when I think of how excruciatingly painful it is for a mother to accept, that the miracle which took her 9 months to bring forth, has been destroyed in an instant. Ending a life is no man’s privilege. It is not ours to take as it is not ours to build. But that would start a separate thread and is not part of this discourse. Today, I am just wondering if our bringing-up has anything to do with our children being more prone to taking their own life, when it does not seem to go in the direction they intended.

As parents, we express our disapproval for anything that is not quite up to the mark. Falling down is bad, that is why we console our kids when they fall down and hurt themselves. We do not celebrate it or even welcome it as something which is essential to their growth. It should be easy to gauge the effect of failure on a child who has never hurt herself in life, who has never experienced hurt. Well-meaning but over protective parents, by never letting their children experience the pain and hurt in life, give them a subtle yet strong message. A two-fold message in fact. One, that failure is not a natural process which is to be experienced; and two, that failure is not their responsibility but someone else’s fault. When we smack the floor after a toddler falls down, we give him/her to understand that it is the floor’s fault. The child need not do anything different, we will hit the floor and he/she will be alright. Shouldn’t we be telling the kid to walk carefully and that if we do something in a certain way, we get a certain consequence? That, whatever we do, is a consequence of our actions and not someone’s fault. Even toddlers can understand the simple cause and effect theory.

We need to remember that children are deeply affected by our reactions and responses, much more than we ever care about. They carry our responses with them for life. How we respond to them, their actions, good or bad, has the potential to determine and significantly define their lives. Little Tommy, in kindergarten, gets 4 out of 10 in English test and his mom says, the teacher is not good enough. Either she didn’t teach him well or she didn’t judge his performance well. In short, teacher’s fault. His essay looked perfect to his parents. So, little Tommy has little motivation to do better next time. Sunny’s mom, on the other hand, tells him to work harder and score better and that is what he is encouraged to do. Sunny’s mom is, in fact, happy to know that her kid has not scored too much. She is happy that Sunny has something to learn and improve upon and that is the message she gives out to him. Sunny will learn from his failure, little Tommy will learn to blame his teacher every time he scores less. We see these kids later in college and it’s the same response. Little Tommy, now Big Tommy, does not do well in the final semester as his professor didn’t give him good marks in the practical exam. Big Sunny, if he does not do well, tries to find out where he went wrong and puts in effort to improve. A few more years, and the two are working for an organization. Tommy, when he does not get a promotion and gets a bad feedback from his supervisor, blames it on the latter. His supervisor is not a good mentor, not good at his job and favors some select people. He never once looks at his own performance as something that could be worked upon. Sunny, when he gets a feedback, tries to analyze ways to improve his performance. In fact, he always seeks feedback from his supervisors and peers and tries to improve on his skills. The feedbacks, even the bad ones, propel him to positive action without undermining his confidence in his abilities.

Since the time he scored a 4 out of 10 in English, in kindergarten, Tommy has learnt from his mother, to direct the responsibility of failure on someone else and not do anything about it. Sunny has been taught to learn from his mistake and do better next time. Failure for one, is an excuse for working less next time while for one it is an opportunity to do better. If, at some point of time, Tommy does not find anyone to blame, he would not know what to do with his life. Passing the buck is how he deals with setbacks. Since he has never learnt to take charge of his own life, he will get stuck and never have any motivation to get past the point of failure and take his life forward. It is in this stage that most suicidal tendencies surface. Because we can see no future beyond it, because life seems to have come to a dead end and we don’t know where to go from here, how to go ahead, we can only think of ending the misery right then and there. And it does end, right then and there – a promising life cut short only because we didn’t know how to deal with failure.

As parents, the most important thing we can do for the child is to let him/her develop a mindset that is growth and learning oriented and perceives failures as just another chance to learn something. This is all that a failure, setback or mistake really means. Another chance to learn, another opportunity to add to your reservoir of experiences and an inspiration to do it better the next time. Continuous Improvement should be a way of life. Mistakes and failures are not the end; they are the beginning of a wiser, more enriching life we can lead, now that we know better. You need not end your life or stop trying something if you encounter failure; you can build a new castle again, the way a spider or a bird would do. Rebuild it again. And again. And yet again. As long as there is life in you, castles can be built again, no matter how many times they break down. The most unfortunate thing for a heart is not cardiac arrest; it is the loss of hope. The most unfortunate thing for a mind is not the loss of memory; it is the loss of learning. Where hope abounds and continuous learning is the goal, life will have a purpose and meaning till the very end. A meaningless existence is forced upon us, not by destiny but by our own choices. It is our choices that make us who we are. Let us enable and empower our kids today to make better choices for themselves tomorrow. Let us inculcate hope and a love of learning, before we teach them anything else. For the rest, life is the best teacher……………..Aum Shanti!