The World is like a Mirage

The World and the Universe are like a mirage. This statement raises eyebrows when a seeker or non-seeker hears it.   An object looks different depending on the distance and the angle from which it is viewed. In the same way, this statement may sound preposterous to many but to a tiny minority there is complete truth in this statement. It all depends on the perspective.

Let us take this example.  A man and his goat were walking back home in the desert one hot sunny afternoon.  He had taken his goat with him to see if it could be sold in the market place. It was a long walk back from the market that they had gone to visit. On the way home, they are fairly tired, hungry and thirsty.  The sun was shining brightly and it was a hot day.  Out in the distance, they both see what appears to be an oasis. The water in the oasis looks real to both the man and his goat.  Unfortunately, it is only a mirage. The goat thinks it is water and rushes out to the mirage. The man uses his knowledge and the power of discrimination (his intellect) and knows it is only a mirage. He cannot deny that the appearance of the water in the mirage is very realistic. Yet, because of his intellect the man can differentiate the real from the unreal and hence he does not run towards the mirage.  The goat on the other hand, does not have the intellect to differentiate or discriminate and rushes towards the mirage.

From the point of view of the goat, the mirage is real. From the point of view of the man, he knows that the mirage is unreal. From the point of view of the sun, where is the question of real or unreal, mirage or no mirage, man or goat, world or no world?  The sun shines regardless of anything.

The non-seeker is like the goat, not using the power of discrimination and intellect that nature has given him.  He takes the world to be totally real and does not even question it.  He suffers with the ups and downs that the world presents to him.

The man who has heard and understands the Truth, is one who uses his intellect to discriminate between the real and the unreal.  Yet, he believes that 'he' has understood and uses the statement " I understand the Truth" and needlessly argues about the reality or non-reality of the world.  He has not yet given up on the idea of being an individual.

The Jnani (the Realized) on the other hand,  is like the sun. Just the self shining Self, with no question of reality or non-reality of the world. The Jnani has merged in the Absolute, where there is no question of knowledge or ignorance. The Jnani just IS.

The Goal of Desire is to be Desireless

The goal of every desire is to be desireless. Let us study this statement closely. When there is a desire, the mind is agitated and cannot focus on anything else other than the desire itself. For instance, if one wants to drink a cup of coffee, the thoughts are constantly on how to get the cup of coffee. The thoughts lead to actions that will fulfill the desire. One thought leads to another and the goal is to get the cup of coffee and consume it. Till the desire is fulfilled or replaced by another desire, it will constantly occupy the focus of attention of the mind. Once the cup of coffee is in the hand and a sip of it is consumed, then there is contentment. Yes, the contentment or happiness may be fleeting but it is there because the desire was fulfilled. In that moment of happiness, there is no desire or there is desirelessness (only until another desire arises!). Therefore, it can be concluded that desirelessness is equal to happiness and vice versa. The goal of every desire is to lead up to this desirelessness (happiness or contentment), which is our True Nature. One experiences this state of happiness or desirelessness every day, but the mind interprets the happiness to be due to the attainment of the object of desire and not to the fact that for that fleeting moment there are no desires (or desirelessness). Because of the misinterpretation of this state of happiness, the mind is constantly chasing desires thereby resulting in a state of constant seeking. The mind gives the impression that someday or sometime, there will be no further desires to be fulfilled and then there will be contentment.

But, desirelessness is actually our True Nature and it is present right here and right now. It is a state of peace and contentment. Once, one realizes that the state of desirelessness is indeed one's True Nature, the seeking stops immediately. It is just a matter of Understanding which leads one to Realization.

So Said Ramana Maharshi

THERE IS NO PATH

When you speak of a path, where are you now? And where do you want to go? If these are known, then we can talk of a path. Know first where you are and what you are. There is nothing to be reached. There is no goal to be reached. There is nothing to be attained. The conception that there is a goal and a path to it is wrong. We are the goal or peace always. You are the Self. You exist always.
-- Sri Ramana Maharshi

TAT TVAM ASI- THAT THOU ART

Tat tvam Asi or 'That thou art' is a Mahavaakya (Great Pronouncement or Great Saying) in Vedanta Advaita literature. It is originally mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad as a dialogue between Uddalaka and his son, Shvetaketu. In any case, the reason this author has brought this up is to emphasize the simplicity and depth of the meaning behind this simple pronouncement. Just mulling over this Mahavaakya can be in itself all that a seeker needs. However, it is imperative for the seeker to understand the meaning of each of these words, the placement of the words in the sentence and how to approach the process of assimilation of the profundity of this statement.

TAT is That or the Reality or Brahman or whatever label you may want to give the eternal Reality that is self evident to all. THOU is the "you" or the "me". This "me" is also called the Jiva (pronounced as 'Jeeva'). What you mistakenly take yourself to be is this Jiva or the personality or the individual. At its very essence, the Mahavaakya is self explanatory. Note that this statement starts with a That rather than Thou. Meaning thereby that what IS, or THAT is already present BEFORE a 'Thou' (or a 'you' or 'me') arises. The Mahavaakya can lose its meaning if translated as "Thou are That" or "you are That", as is often seen in Advaita literature. Translating it in this manner gives substance to the feeling that there is actually a 'you' or 'thou' or 'me'. The seeker continues to think that he/she is an entity with some substance and independent nature and begins to analyze the statement from that reference point of a 'me'. Unfortunately, this just reinforces the concept or the sense of a 'me' or an 'individual', which defeats the very purpose of this statement. Of course, one could argue that this placement of words in this Mahavaakya is due to Sanskrit grammar and has nothing to do with the essential meaning of the statement or how this author has proposed that it should be interpreted. But remember that language is just a mode of communication and one can go on arguing endlessly about irrelevant topics thereby failing to see what is being pointed to.

The meaning of the Mahavaakya is clear when pointed out that before a thought of a 'me' can arise, I already AM. If one can just stick with the identity of THAT, then there is no question of identifying with what arises or comes after THAT. If one starts off as THAT and sticks to it, and then understands that what arises as an 'I-thought' (or a 'me') is nothing but just a thought, the meaning becomes immediately clear. All thoughts, actions, feelings, emotions, or anything else can BE, only if THAT is there to start with. THAT is always and eternally the Present. What can one say if the identity with THAT is established once and for all? One can only say that " I am every thing and no thing in particular".

For some seekers, this direct pointing out works wonders and hence this simple three word sentence has been labeled a Mahavaakya. As THAT, one realizes that he/she is nothing but just the Pure Awareness. The he/she cannot exist apart from THAT/Pure Awareness. Just ponder over this powerful pointer.

Thought for the Day

There is no question of becoming what you already ARE.
There is no question of being other than what you already ARE.
BE as you ARE.

Stop Struggling and Just Surrender

The author fully understands that there are many out there who do not comprehend what is being posted in this blog. Despite proclaiming to be a blog about the simplicity of seeing into your True Nature, there are many that do not just see it the way a small minority do. It might just be easier for some to not struggle to decipher the whole Truth (as there is really no 'one' to decipher it!!) and instead settle for what seems obvious to them. Remember, there is nothing to attain or gain in this entire venture. What many want is just some peace and stillness and what is wrong in asking for that? Remember, that the seeking is itself the source of suffering. Perhaps, for the struggling seeker, it may be better to stop seeking and be happy with some simple knowledge. The purpose of this article to cater to the many who are at this stage of seeking and the author hopes that reading further may be of help to them. As is commonly seen in many commercials, no guarantees are implied and individual results may vary!! The author has nothing to sell. So, what are you waiting for? Read on!

So, you see this so called 'unreal world' and 'illusory world' as real? You just cannot understand what these so called 'Non-dualists' or 'Advaitins' talk about all this 'illusory world being like a dream' etc.? Nothing wrong with that! You are not alone. The majority of the population, in fact a good 99.99% of the population does so! You are reading this so that you can have some peace, some stillness, and enjoy 'life' as it should be, correct? If not, then it is time for you to stop reading right now. If you already are an 'Awakened Non-dualist', then there is no reason for you to read this, correct?

Accepting that you are indeed a person, a person with a body and a mind, let us move on. What is needed is just a change in perspective, that is all at this stage. If you can just get this change in perspective, then you have achieved what you were struggling to achieve so far. Stop at that point and go no further. Relax into this simple understanding and let it settle in for good. When the desire to dig deeper arises in the future, do so.

Firstly, what are you missing right here and right now? What will make you complete? What will give you contentment, right now and right here? Do not just read these questions. Answer them and write it down with date and time stamp, if you will, please! Now, that you have an answer, let us go about figuring out how to satisfy that missing need or desire.

The answer in most cases is that "there is nothing missing right here and right now, but....". And then, there are a lot of thoughts after that 'but.....' and the list goes on and on. Hey, this author did not say that all needs will be satisfied, only that we will go about trying to figure out how to satisfy the needs. There is no end to the needs and wants of this body as long as there is a mind that can conjure up those needs and wants. The needs and wants are called desires. The primary desire is the desire to live. Without that desire, no other desire would exist, correct? Where did this love to be, the desire to be come from? Was it not spontaneous? If the primary desire to just BE was spontaneous, would not all other desires be spontaneous too? That means that 'Spontaneous' was responsible for the desires, not you! If 'you' were not responsible for these desires as they were spontaneous, then why are 'you' suffering especially since they cannot be fulfilled? Gotcha! Let the one who created the desires solve the problem. Since the desires arose spontaneously let them be fulfilled spontaneously. Again, Spontaneous will decide if these desires can be fulfilled or not.

No point dwelling over these thoughts and desires and suffering unnecessarily. This could include the desire to be Awakened. Leave it be. Just chill! You know by now that all your desires cannot be fulfilled or else everyone would be happy and all would be at peace in this world ( a desire of a lot of so called 'spiritualists' and 'spiritual teachers'). These 'spiritual teachers' create an illusion (an unreal utopia) of a world full of content and happy people,- if only the people would follow their teachings. However, despite several thousands of these spiritual teachers and Gurus over the past thousands of years, has there been permanent peace and lack of conflict in this world? Be honest. Knowing that there is really nothing that you can do to stop the thoughts and to fulfill the needs and desires arising from these thoughts, would a sensible 'you' still continue to try to do so? A sensible 'you' would just quit trying to control thoughts. In giving up, there is immediate sense of peace. In surrendering to the Unknown (Spontaneous), there is immediate peace to the 'you'. Let that Unknown creator of thoughts take care of fulfilling the needs of those thoughts (desires). Just surrender completely. Don't worry, things will be done and actions will go on. You will not become a lazy no-good person. Just stop pretending you are the one having the thoughts and taking care of the desires and needs. As soon as a thought arises, ask whose thought it is and where did it come from. Don't try to struggle with the thoughts. Let them arise and let them go. Just be the silent observer of these thoughts. On complete surrender to the Unknown, the actions will go on spontaneously, except there will be no 'you' struggling to do them.

For now, just be satisfied with this basic understanding and stop struggling or seeking any more. Good luck!! Questions or comment? Don't shy away! Go ahead and ask or write your comments.

Whose Thoughts are These?

For one to get to Understanding, one essentially has to give up the idea of being an entity, a 'me' with a name and form. Metaphorically speaking, one has to dismiss the concept of being a body-mind entity. The primary concept is the "thought-I am'. This primary concept of being an individual is the root of all other concepts. For, without an owner of thoughts, the thoughts cannot take hold. The thoughts will continue to appear but there is no one taking ownership of the thoughts. The thoughts then fall off just as they appear. While this may appear to be a process involving time and effort, in actuality and on the Understanding taking place, it becomes clear that there is no one ever owning thoughts (like 'my thoughts') and likewise no one ever giving up thoughts.

Thoughts appear and disappear in consciousness with no one ever making any effort to create or dismiss them. Think carefully over this. Do you, yes a 'you', do anything to think? Or, do thoughts appear spontaneously? If a 'you' could control thoughts, would you ever choose to have "bad thoughts"? Since thoughts precede actions, would you ever choose to do "bad things"? How many times have you looked back and said " I wish I had never said that" or " I wish I had never thought like that"? Would there ever be regrets if there was a 'you' who could control the thoughts before they appear? Is it not true that all 'your' suffering is due to 'your' ownership of the thoughts and the actions that follow? What if a 'you' inquires into the reality and existence of the 'you' and then see what happens thereafter? Do 'you' still need convincing about whose thoughts are these?