It is true that most if not all people hold the idea of a Heaven and hell. An After life, so to speak. The sad thing is that they have not figured out about this current life! Yet, it is amazing to see the amount of discussion and literature on After life and Heaven or hell. This is indeed part of the amazing story, the story created by the power of Maya (illusion). Maya tries to draw you more and more into the illusion and you willingly fall for it. You are in this free fall of confusion and suffering and all you pray for is to go to heaven one day. A Heaven, where you hope you will eventually become free from all this suffering created by this manifestation. A picture of Heaven has been instilled in your mind by various sources and now there is something to look forward to. Ah!, a place of utter happiness, which will be an escape from this miserable world. Yet, you have no evidence or knowledge of Heaven. You are eager to know about this Heaven. This is the beacon of hope for you. A hope that will you keep your mind distracted from the present circumstances. You may ask yourself "but what is wrong with hope?". After all, you have been told by many spiritual leaders that hope is your best bet to end this present cycle of suffering and misery.
With this idea in mind, you go about your frustrating life. One fine day, you wonder if this is all a false hope. You are now very desperate to find out about this whole story of life and after life? What about the NOW? What can I do about now, this very life? You are now very eager to KNOW your own self and the relationship between your self and the world and Heaven and all else. And you start praying for an answer. An answer to know who you are and what is this life and what exactly is Heaven and who is God. If indeed the desire to KNOW is sincere and honest, then out of nowhere the Guru appears. There is an ancient saying in the East- 'when the student is ready-the teacher appears'. This saying is very true and those who have had this experience will testify to the same.
The Guru gives you the knowledge about your own self. He says that you must first know your self and then you shall know everything. But, but,....what about.....?, you have so many questions. The Guru asks you to remain attentive to your own self, this undeniable feeling of being, this undeniable sense of presence, this undeniable knowingness, this undeniable knowledge that you are. You trust your Guru for you have complete and unshakeable faith in the Guru. You do exactly as He says. You trust the words of the Guru. You have the CONVICTION in the words of the Guru. For the Guru has come to you and has taken the trouble to find you, that is the least you can do for the Guru. Faith and conviction is all He is asking for.
Nothing more needs to be done. Just CONVICTION in the Guru. Then suddenly in a flash, you Realize your True Nature, your own Self. With this Realization, everything becomes CLEAR. Everything unravels. All the questions fall away. You Realize that you are NOT an entity called "me". Never have been. Indeed, you are the Pure Awareness in which everything appears. Everything, including Heaven. Appearances have no reality. Pure Awareness is the only Reality. You have always been and always will be the Pure Awareness. Pure Awareness IS. There is no question of a heaven or hell or afterlife. You have Realized that Heaven is WITHIN YOU. Where is the question of a pathway to Heaven? And more importantly, TO WHOM?
The author pays homage to the Guru who is in ALL.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Stairway To Heaven
Whenever there is a mention of the word 'Heaven', all types of conceptual images arise. The fact is that most if not all have no clue what Heaven is or would be. The general conception is that it is a place of eternal happiness and bliss. A place where all your wishes get fulfilled and there shall be no more needs or wants. Indeed a mystical and perhaps mythical place. Most people look up towards the sky to indicate that there is a Heaven somewhere up there or out there. The strange truth is that Heaven is right here and available right now. Yes. That is the plain and simple truth. IT can only be experienced while you are alive. While you still have the feeling or sense of being, the sense "I am".
Heaven is not up there or somewhere out there. Neither do you have to climb up the stairway. On the contrary, one has to climb down the stairway from where you came from. Yes. From where you first started. On going down the stairs, one has to go backwards. Backwards all the way to the beginning. Your beginning. Only when one tries can this stairway be descended. So, why don't you step down and start going back?
At the end of the stairway is a tiny little trap door. The label on the trap door says "I AM". You are now afraid to step in through the trap door for you know not what lies beyond. Do not be afraid. Remember we are heading back to where you came from. From where this whole journey began in the first place. Will you please step in through the trap door. Yes, despite your objections, you will easily fit in through the door.
Once you have stepped through, you enter a dimensionless area of lightless light and soundless sound. An area of stillness of which you are still aware. There is only a feeling of beingness. You may feel you are in Heaven but actually you are not. This feels like Heaven, you may say. But do not be fooled. It is Heaven and yet it is not. You want to dwell here for a long long time. It is peaceful, blissful and totally silent. You keep falling through this area unaware of where you will go next. It is almost an endless abyss.
As one falls further into the abyss, at one point you have actually exited out of the area of beingness, and now there is complete absence of any sense of beingness. In this deepest depths of abyss, you have dissolved completely. There is no question of being or no being. This is the region beyond awareness or no awareness. Indescribable. This is your True resting place, your Home, which you never ever left in the first place. All of the rest is just an imagination. An illusion. If so, who is it that wants to descend down the stairway to Heaven?
Heaven is not up there or somewhere out there. Neither do you have to climb up the stairway. On the contrary, one has to climb down the stairway from where you came from. Yes. From where you first started. On going down the stairs, one has to go backwards. Backwards all the way to the beginning. Your beginning. Only when one tries can this stairway be descended. So, why don't you step down and start going back?
At the end of the stairway is a tiny little trap door. The label on the trap door says "I AM". You are now afraid to step in through the trap door for you know not what lies beyond. Do not be afraid. Remember we are heading back to where you came from. From where this whole journey began in the first place. Will you please step in through the trap door. Yes, despite your objections, you will easily fit in through the door.
Once you have stepped through, you enter a dimensionless area of lightless light and soundless sound. An area of stillness of which you are still aware. There is only a feeling of beingness. You may feel you are in Heaven but actually you are not. This feels like Heaven, you may say. But do not be fooled. It is Heaven and yet it is not. You want to dwell here for a long long time. It is peaceful, blissful and totally silent. You keep falling through this area unaware of where you will go next. It is almost an endless abyss.
As one falls further into the abyss, at one point you have actually exited out of the area of beingness, and now there is complete absence of any sense of beingness. In this deepest depths of abyss, you have dissolved completely. There is no question of being or no being. This is the region beyond awareness or no awareness. Indescribable. This is your True resting place, your Home, which you never ever left in the first place. All of the rest is just an imagination. An illusion. If so, who is it that wants to descend down the stairway to Heaven?
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