The mind is both the source of joy and sorrow. Since the seeker associates himself or herself to be an entity with a mind, the entity goes up and down with the mind. Hence, the feeling of being happy or sad. This problem of ups and downs is the reason most seek out an answer. Everyone wants to be only happy and who would not? There are two ways to go about figuring out how to get out of this mess. The best way is to disregard the mind and investigate the entity ("me"). The other way is to investigate the mind itself and realize its nature, its functioning and source.
A lot of spiritual practices will encourage one to control the mind. Mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts. It is not an objective entity. One who has tried to control the mind will be able to testify how difficult this can be. Instead, would it not be a lot easier if the seeking entity (called "me") SEES the falseness of itself and disengages from the activities of the mind? If one can come around to doing Self-Inquiry (vichara), there is no better solution than that. However, this article is for those of us for whom Self-Inquiry is not feasible or easily understood. Perhaps for some, purifying the mind may be the first step towards greater and eventual goals like knowing one's own True Nature.
It is peace of mind which the seeker wants and is that not what most of us want? How can one get peace of mind? Common experience tells you that the more you try to control it the more it rebels. Meditation is certainly a temporary solution. If peace of mind, even temporary, is what you want, then meditation is not a bad answer. But what kind of meditation?
When one keeps oneself engaged in thoughts, the thoughts multiply. One gets lost in more and more thoughts. The thoughts lead one away from one's own self. However, if the mind can be turned around and gently focused on the source from where the thoughts arise, then the thoughts gradually lose their energy and subside into their source. Do not try to stop the thoughts. Just watch where they come from and be the silent witness of the thoughts. Do not get carried away into the thoughts. Always bring your attention back to the source of the thoughts. Anchoring the mind to its source brings about peace almost immediately. One falls into the state of thoughtlessness, which is your Natural State. Repeated practice of this simple meditation of bringing one's attention to the source of the thoughts will take one deeper into further insights of one's own True Nature.
Showing posts with label Seeing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seeing. Show all posts
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Sunday, September 4, 2011
First, Know Your Self
What you think is not who you are. And yet, you believe in what you think. Although, these thoughts are constantly changing you still place total belief in these thoughts. Strange, isn't it? Any one who has given any attention to the analysis of who they are, is sure to be surprised with the answer.
Let us suppose you are currently this body that you think you are, since you are absolutely convinced about it. When this body was "born", you had no such claim. In fact, you had no such claim for about 18 months or longer into your infancy. Then, because of your parents repeatedly addressing you as the body, you began to understand that your parents mean the body when they address you by a name. You were therefore "born" nameless and without identity. Then an identity with the body was established by your parents. You, who had no name and yet were existing, were given a name. You got the knowledge, ' I am so and so'. Armed with this knowledge, you established that since you were this "I" (the first person), everyone else was separate from you and different and therefore called "him, her, them" (second, third persons). Armed with this knowledge, you labeled everyone else also with names and gave them an identity based on their form or body. This gradually got ingrained into you to the point that you gave this full credibility. You believed in being a body with a name, separate from others and the rest of the world.
Add to this, as the days became years and encounters with the society increased, you were given even more information about your identity. Not only did you now have a name and a body, but also multiple identities depending on what one was talking about. For instance, if there was a discussion on religion, and if someone asked you "what are you?', you immediately replied " I am a Christian" or " I am a Hindu" or what ever you were TOLD you were by your parents and society. If the discussion was about your job, your answer could be " I am an engineer" or " I am a businessman" or what ever identity you assumed relative to your job. To some you are the 'Manager' or the 'Engineer' and to others you may be 'Dad' or 'Mom' and yet to others you may be 'Son' or 'Daughter'. Your current identity is always relative to the others and it keeps on changing. You get the gist of where this is going. So, depending on how long this mental conditioning has been going on, and the older you are the more the mental conditioning, you would have assumed multiples of identities. The more knowledge you accumulated, the more complex became the maze of identities. YOU ARE LOST! You are confused. You are insecure in your maze of identities. You don't know who you really, really are. You are unable to pinpoint one single identity as being your self.
All this while, you FORGOT your original identity, which was just being you, without a name or an identity. How happy, innocent and contented you looked when you were in that state of just Being! If you ever doubt what is being said here, just look at the face of a one month old infant and you will realize what is being pointed you.
You perhaps came to this website or blog thinking you will be given even more knowledge about spirituality or some such stuff. Of what use is more knowledge if you don't know who you are? Is it not important to know on what foundation a building is standing before building on more floors or stories on top of the building? Do you know your foundation? And can you see the foundation without removing the existing floors? Why not remove or discard all existing knowledge of yourself and settle down to what you started with?
Don't just assume identities based on what your were told. LOOK and SEE what you were at the beginning. REALIZE that you are formless and nameless to begin with and always. Do not get carried away by the added layers of knowledge. Go back to what you always have been. DON'T BE THIS OR THAT. JUST BE.
Let us suppose you are currently this body that you think you are, since you are absolutely convinced about it. When this body was "born", you had no such claim. In fact, you had no such claim for about 18 months or longer into your infancy. Then, because of your parents repeatedly addressing you as the body, you began to understand that your parents mean the body when they address you by a name. You were therefore "born" nameless and without identity. Then an identity with the body was established by your parents. You, who had no name and yet were existing, were given a name. You got the knowledge, ' I am so and so'. Armed with this knowledge, you established that since you were this "I" (the first person), everyone else was separate from you and different and therefore called "him, her, them" (second, third persons). Armed with this knowledge, you labeled everyone else also with names and gave them an identity based on their form or body. This gradually got ingrained into you to the point that you gave this full credibility. You believed in being a body with a name, separate from others and the rest of the world.
Add to this, as the days became years and encounters with the society increased, you were given even more information about your identity. Not only did you now have a name and a body, but also multiple identities depending on what one was talking about. For instance, if there was a discussion on religion, and if someone asked you "what are you?', you immediately replied " I am a Christian" or " I am a Hindu" or what ever you were TOLD you were by your parents and society. If the discussion was about your job, your answer could be " I am an engineer" or " I am a businessman" or what ever identity you assumed relative to your job. To some you are the 'Manager' or the 'Engineer' and to others you may be 'Dad' or 'Mom' and yet to others you may be 'Son' or 'Daughter'. Your current identity is always relative to the others and it keeps on changing. You get the gist of where this is going. So, depending on how long this mental conditioning has been going on, and the older you are the more the mental conditioning, you would have assumed multiples of identities. The more knowledge you accumulated, the more complex became the maze of identities. YOU ARE LOST! You are confused. You are insecure in your maze of identities. You don't know who you really, really are. You are unable to pinpoint one single identity as being your self.
All this while, you FORGOT your original identity, which was just being you, without a name or an identity. How happy, innocent and contented you looked when you were in that state of just Being! If you ever doubt what is being said here, just look at the face of a one month old infant and you will realize what is being pointed you.
You perhaps came to this website or blog thinking you will be given even more knowledge about spirituality or some such stuff. Of what use is more knowledge if you don't know who you are? Is it not important to know on what foundation a building is standing before building on more floors or stories on top of the building? Do you know your foundation? And can you see the foundation without removing the existing floors? Why not remove or discard all existing knowledge of yourself and settle down to what you started with?
Don't just assume identities based on what your were told. LOOK and SEE what you were at the beginning. REALIZE that you are formless and nameless to begin with and always. Do not get carried away by the added layers of knowledge. Go back to what you always have been. DON'T BE THIS OR THAT. JUST BE.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Nothing is Simpler than Seeing one's own Self
It is indeed amazing how a Guru can show the clearest and easiest path to Liberation and yet the seeker (or more appropriately 'the ego') will refuse to see the clarity and simplicity of the message. Contrary to what many of you readers may be thinking, it is not necessary to blindly accept what the Guru is saying. Instead, it is imperative that you must question and analyze the teachings and sayings of the Guru and come to your own conclusion. This process is called inquiry into the Self. However, it is this author's opinion that complete and unquestioned faith in the Guru is the essential ingredient in the successful culmination of one's effort to attain liberation. Nothing could be simpler than SEEING one's own Self.
As Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi said - " When rightly considered, nothing will be more wonderful and laughable than one's toiling very much through some sadhana(spiritual practice) to attain Self in the same manner as one toils to attain other objects, even though one really ever remains as the non-dual Self".
If one listens carefully to the above (Shravana) and then cogitates over this simple teaching (Manana) and meditates on the nature of one's own Self or internalizes one's conceptual understanding as a fact (Nidhidhyasana), then one merges with the Guru, which is Self Realization or Liberation. Ramana Maharishi started out by clearly saying "when rightly considered....." and hence He implies inquiry and questioning the very methodology i.e. sadhana or practice, by the seeker. However, upon careful and complete inquiry, there is no doubt that one will arrive at the conclusion that it is utterly ridiculous for one to perform any kind of sadhana to BE what one already IS!! There is only ONE without a second and hence the concept of being any thing other than THAT ONE is nothing other than a concept. A concept is not real. Only THAT is the Reality. Why don't you investigate and SEE for your self?
As Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi said - " When rightly considered, nothing will be more wonderful and laughable than one's toiling very much through some sadhana(spiritual practice) to attain Self in the same manner as one toils to attain other objects, even though one really ever remains as the non-dual Self".
If one listens carefully to the above (Shravana) and then cogitates over this simple teaching (Manana) and meditates on the nature of one's own Self or internalizes one's conceptual understanding as a fact (Nidhidhyasana), then one merges with the Guru, which is Self Realization or Liberation. Ramana Maharishi started out by clearly saying "when rightly considered....." and hence He implies inquiry and questioning the very methodology i.e. sadhana or practice, by the seeker. However, upon careful and complete inquiry, there is no doubt that one will arrive at the conclusion that it is utterly ridiculous for one to perform any kind of sadhana to BE what one already IS!! There is only ONE without a second and hence the concept of being any thing other than THAT ONE is nothing other than a concept. A concept is not real. Only THAT is the Reality. Why don't you investigate and SEE for your self?
Friday, January 28, 2011
God is the breath of all breath- Kabir
O servant, where dost thou seek Me?
Lo! I am beside thee.
I am neither in temple nor in mosque: I am neither in Kaaba nor
in Kailash:
Neither am I in rites and ceremonies, nor in Yoga and
renunciation.
If thou art a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me: thou shalt
meet Me in a moment of time.
Kabîr says, "O Sadhu! God is the breath of all breath."
Kabir was a Saint and a weaver by occupation born in 1440 A.D. in medieval India. His poems are an expression of the simplicity of non-traditional Advaitic teachings. In this poem, he extols the simplicity of SEEING your True Nature. He emphasizes the fact that discovery of your True Nature is not in the acts of renunciation or yoga or some ritual or ceremony. For a true seeker, the Truth is at NO distance from your own self. There is no involvement of time in discovering your True Nature. True devotion is the hallmark of a true seeker.
Lo! I am beside thee.
I am neither in temple nor in mosque: I am neither in Kaaba nor
in Kailash:
Neither am I in rites and ceremonies, nor in Yoga and
renunciation.
If thou art a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me: thou shalt
meet Me in a moment of time.
Kabîr says, "O Sadhu! God is the breath of all breath."
Kabir was a Saint and a weaver by occupation born in 1440 A.D. in medieval India. His poems are an expression of the simplicity of non-traditional Advaitic teachings. In this poem, he extols the simplicity of SEEING your True Nature. He emphasizes the fact that discovery of your True Nature is not in the acts of renunciation or yoga or some ritual or ceremony. For a true seeker, the Truth is at NO distance from your own self. There is no involvement of time in discovering your True Nature. True devotion is the hallmark of a true seeker.
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