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.