Why Seeking Can Be A Trap

We all start off as seekers. Some realize their true nature, thanks to the teachings of their Guru, and stop seeking. Some seekers having heard the words of their Guru seem to have the understanding of the teachings. Yet, they continue to remain seekers despite the understanding. Yes, it is imperative for one to be a seeker (mumukshu) at the start of the journey. That is what sparks the one-pointed desire to know the Truth. Yet, is it not the goal of every seeker to eventually end the process of seeking?

Each and every one of us is different, as different as the fingerprints. Hence, the process of realizing the Truth is different for each and every one of us. There can be several reasons as to why the process of seeking continues for many a seeker.

One of many reasons, is the desire of the seeker to experience an event similar to that of their Guru, prior to realizing the Self. Despite the Guru repeatedly pointing out that they should disregard all experiences as appearances in consciousness, and of no relevance, they still continue to hope and yearn for an experience or event. In some cases, such a problem is perpetuated by some teachers, who may keep the seeker in a perpetual cycle of feeling inadequate and incomplete. The teacher may imply that he/she has somehow attained enlightenment or realization through a process and after experiencing an "aha moment". Hearing this and knowing that they have not had a similar experience, the seeker feels inferior to the teacher or somehow inadequate or incomplete. Hence the feeling among the seekers that they too have to go through a similar process and experience an event sometime in the future. They also have the false idea that such an experience is permanent and results in eternal and everlasting bliss. The seeker cannot be entirely blamed for having such an impression. After all, many a teacher creates an impression of being always in bliss and unperturbed by the events  of the world.

Yet others may simply like the idea of continuing to be seekers in perpetuity. Although this seems ludicrous, many seekers either knowingly or unknowingly, like the sense of community and shared goals with other seekers. They internally acknowledge that realizing the Truth may result in the end of their being part of a community of seekers. They are afraid of being abandoned and shunned by the very community that they so lovingly embraced. After all envy is expected if one seeker declares that he/she has realized while others are still in the throes of struggle and suffering.

In some others, the little self (or ego) fools the seeker into thinking that he/she may never attain realization as it is reserved only for the fortunate few who have completed certain rigorous rituals or difficult processes of purification of the body and mind over the course of many decades. And yet others may be under the false impression that enlightenment or self- realization if at all possible, is something to be achieved or attained sometime in the future.

Some seekers are just too obsessed or happy with the image of themselves (as whatever) and do not want to actually give up their concept of being an individual. This is particularly true in societies where individuality is given top priority.

It is evident that there are two main culprits among many, for perpetuating the seeking. The first culprit is the false "I-thought" or the ego, which fearful of losing its validity, will play all kinds of games and scenarios in the mind of the seeker, to prevent the seeker from SEEING the Truth. The ego knows that realizing the Truth would spell the end of the ego. Such is the hold of the ego that even after apparent understanding of the reality, it continues to produce doubts and feelings of uncertainty, thereby ensuring its survival.

The other culprit is the concept of time. Time is a concept in the mind and has no reality. The concept of time gives the seeker the false impression that what he/she is seeking is not available right here and right now. The concept of time creates the impression that what is being sought can only be attained in the future through a prescribed process of doing. This sets up the seeker into refusing to believe his Guru, even when the Guru clearly explains that "what you are seeking,you already ARE".

While it is easy for some teachers to say "Just stop seeking, right here and right now", it may not ring a bell for the seeker. Even if they agree with the teacher and nod their heads, they may return home to realize that their suffering and seeking has actually not stopped. In fact, the ego has made a comeback with a vengeance. The more the seeker claims that the seeking has ended, the more the ego swells and ensures that the seeking has actually not ended. Many a times, even the seeker is unaware of the falseness of his or her claims.

There is no denying the fact that only when one starts seeking does one find. Hence, being a seeker is essential for all and as such is not avoidable. After all, seeking can in itself be frustrating if there is no goal or end in sight. But how to end the seeking?

It is important to realize that the end of seeking is different for each and every seeker. There is no "one size fits all" in realizing the Truth. Clarity comes from within to see the false as false. Realize once and for all, that there is nothing to attain or achieve. Have resolute and unwavering FAITH and DEVOTION in the Guru and constantly keep the Guru in your mind. While these may seem like yet another prescription for doing or a process, remember that the destination is the journey. As the Zen Buddhist saying goes, "before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood, carry water".

Even the seeker claiming  enlightenment or clarity is none other than a false appearance claiming to have figured out that the false is false. The ever present Awareness always IS and remains unchanged and you ARE that ordinary Awareness. Only the apparent appearances in this Awareness play this game of seeking and finding. Go figure!

Neti- Neti or Not This Not This

Water is water, whether it is in a stream, a lake, a river or in an ocean. Space is space whether it is the space in a vessel or the space in a house or the space out in the open. In the same way, consciousness is consciousness and there is nothing apart from consciousness. There is no such entity as individual consciousness and universal consciousness. Yet, this distinction is made in the process of teaching a student so that he or she can comprehend what is being pointed to.  You may question as to why if every one is the same consciousness, should there be the perception that you are a separate being. The answer would be because of ignorance. Because of ignorance, consciousness believes itself to be limited to a particular body and mind, giving rise to the idea of being a separate entity or person. Ignorance is indeed the cause of this false identification. It is this essential false belief that is the basic cause of all suffering. This belief in separation from who you really are. So, how do we get out of this bind?  Luckily, we do not have to reinvent the wheel. The ancient Rishis (sages) have already found many ways in which one can unravel this puzzle.

One of the ways to do so is to use the method of discrimination. By using a discriminating intellect can one  begin to identify the self from the not-self. In ancient Advaitic literature, this method was called "neti- neti" or " not this-not this".  By careful analysis of what is self (atman) and what is not (anatman), one can gradually eliminate all that is not the self. If this method of analysis is done properly and by avoiding any conceptual digression, one can eventually apperceive the Truth.

In fact, you can only know what you are not. Anything that is known can never be the knower since it would immediately become an object and hence does not qualify as a knower anymore. In fact, eventually it becomes clear that there is just "knowing" without a knower and a known. When all that is known has thus been eliminated as not the self, there is just the pure sense of being, the Knowledge of Existence which still persists. One can never eliminate the fact that one exists. This knowledge that "I am" is self evident. It is obvious that you are none other than this Beingness. Don't try to qualify beingness or you will be back in the trap of falseness. Beingness has no quality. Just be.

In Pursuit of Knowledge

Knowledge can be direct or indirect knowledge. All knowledge that is acquired is indirect knowledge or inferred knowledge. What exactly is indirect knowledge? It is all the knowledge that you acquired throughout what you may call "my life". Be aware of the fact that this indirect knowledge is what was either told to you, read by you, inferred by you or heard by you from various sources including books, web pages, blogs, commentaries, audio files, video files, or from personal encounters with other people. For instance, you were told by your parents that you are their child, that you are a Christian or Hindu or Muslim, that you are white or black or Asian, this is right and this is wrong, and so on and so forth. This knowledge is acquired knowledge and one goes on adding more and more knowledge to continuously create an image of oneself and the world around him or her.  It creates an image of you being this body and this mind, which is separate from the world around you. This image of one's self is constantly changing at all moments depending on moods, thoughts, environments and other factors.  With this creation of a false image of one's self comes the suffering and discontentment that we are all so familiar with. We then seek out an end to this suffering.

In trying to find an end to this suffering, one seeks knowledge. That may be the very reason you are reading this message. While knowledge when sought out correctly can bring about an end to suffering, very often it can lead one on a wild goose chase with no end in sight. That is why it is essential to find and follow the advice of a Guru who can point you in the right direction even in the pursuit of knowledge. In fact, a True Guru will ask you not to pursue any knowledge outside of your self. A True Guru will advise you to avoid looking outside for any knowledge and instead to LOOK INSIDE FOR the source of ALL KNOWLEDGE lies within you. All acquired knowledge is based on concepts and the very pursuit of acquired knowledge adds to your concepts. Strangely, what you are looking for, the solution or an end to your suffering, is not going to be found in conceptual understanding or knowledge. What will indeed end the search would be dropping of all concepts and conceptual understanding. Meaning thereby that one should drop all acquired knowledge and settle for the simple direct knowledge of being to lead to its source. Direct knowledge is knowledge that you did not have to acquire. The knowledge of being, the knowledge of presence, the knowledge that you are is direct knowledge. Direct knowledge does not require any other knowledge to support it. It is like the sunlight, which does not require a lamp to discover it. You don't need anyone else to tell you that you are. You know it!

As the great philosopher, Lao Tzu said "In the pursuit of knowledge, something is added every day. In the pursuit of enlightenment, something is dropped every day." Gradually, in the process of self inquiry, you drop all your false identities and concepts, one by one and in the end are left with no concepts including the concept of being this or being that. In that Stillness of just being, the Truth is revealed.

The Answer is in the Mystery Itself

Why look all over the world for the Truth when the Truth is all around you and within you?

We are given to understand, quite wrongly, that someone or something out there will give us the answer when we are looking for the Truth. Nothing can be farther from the truth in thinking in this manner. No doubt the Guru who may appear as a thought or a form is essential to lead one to the Truth. Yet, when one thinks, where do the thoughts come from? Do they not come from the Eternal Source itself? The Source is Itself the Guru. And still yet, the Source shall remain a mystery when one tries to objectify it. In the sense that the Source cannot be described in words or thoughts. It is Itself beyond or prior to the thoughts and words and hence beyond description.

All intelligence belongs to the Source or who you really are. In fact, all that you see, hear, feel, taste or touch is nothing but the Universal Intelligence at work. Have you ever seen a formation of a flock of birds all flying at once at high speed, flapping their wings almost in unison, and not colliding even once? Have you ever given thought to how that can be possible without an air traffic controller telling each bird how close to the other bird it is and what altitude and direction it is flying? When the flock of flying birds turn, do you see them colliding? Do they not KNOW that in the very next moment all of them will be turning left or all will be turning right? Is it not clear that there is an ALL KNOWING, ALL SEEING, SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCE at play here? Of course, scientists may come in and try to explain that there are sensors and signals that the birds give to each other at all times and hence the synchronicity in action. But then, would the sensors and signals work if there was no LIFE ENERGY in the birds? The Life Energy is itself the Intelligence that is behind all the play that we see in the world around us.

You want another example? How come a newly hatched bird suddenly spreads its wings and takes off flying almost as if it already KNEW all about flying? Ever given it a thought? Does the little bird get some flying instructions? Of course, it can all be explained with the gene theory, is an answer you might hear. Just in case you are wondering what exactly is a gene, it is just DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid), a chemical if you may call it. Can a chemical KNOW? And why doesn't a dead bird fly if it already has the DNA or gene responsible for flying? Answer this question!!

One could go on and on talking about everyday observations which are quite plain and simple mysteries but one may have never given it thought. Or even if one did give it a thought, it was not about what made this mysterious occurrence possible. Look and think about it and contemplate about the possible Source of the mystery itself and it will eventually become clear that there is none other the ONE INTELLIGENT ENERGY that is ALL. One can SEE the answer clearly only when one REALLY WANTS TO LOOK FOR IT.  Just LOOK and SEE. It is obvious that the Truth is all around you and within you.

A Case of Mistaken Identity

If you are really wondering what this teaching is all about, it can be put simply as a case of mistaken identity. What is at the crux of the quest for the Truth is not so much about the nature of Truth. It is all about your identity. Yes, your identity. This identity of yourself that you so much believe in and are convinced of its authenticity. This identity that you have a name and a form, the body. This identity that you so proudly proclaim as "me" and "mine".

You can never know the Truth as such. What you can know is the false as false. In doing so, the Truth becomes self evident. You may now ask as to what exactly is false. Everything you know is false since the basic premise that you are an entity, an entity with a name and a body is false. Only by inquiring into the nature of this entity called "me" can you really unravel this mystery.  All the reading and listening is not going to unravel the mystery.  It is only when one starts to ponder over his or her own identity does the answer come all by itself.

Your True Nature is the Absolute where there is no "I".  There should be no doubt about your True Nature as the Absolute (Parabrahman) and all else is false as you will Realize as you continue to investigate into your identity. Now, because you consider yourself to be this body and mind, it would be appropriate to start right here and slowly unravel the mystery of your identity by going backwards. The body is inanimate and it does not say "I". To make this clear, a dead body does not proclaim "I am dead". So, there must be some other factor that gives rise to the impression of "I" or the knowledge of being, or the knowledge of existence. Let us call this knowledge, consciousness. It is this consciousness, which is formless, that is responsible for the sense of being. When this consciousness mistakenly (for ease of understanding) identifies itself with the body, it gives rise to the concept of being an individual, the "I" or "me". Having now identified itself with the body and thinking that it is indeed the body, and having created this concept of being a person or individual, there is a feeling of separation and suffering or the feeling of something missing. The consciousness identified as an individual (Jeeva) feels incomplete and starts the search for the missing bit of information that will give it satisfaction or bliss (ananda).  When the individual with the help of the Guru, comes to the clear conviction that all there is, is consciousness, then there is peace or contentment. When the individual realizes that the basic premise or idea of being an individual ("I" or "me") is false, and that the Real Self is none other than the consciousness, it is called Self Realization.  In effect, the individual has disappeared in favor of the Real Self. It is only when the "I" disappears that the Real Self becomes evident.

Find out if you are individual and if so, what and where are you? Conviction comes with knowledge.  Know Thy Self.

One Without Doubt

On the path to the Truth one may be considered to pass through various stages. In reality, no such stages exist, as you have always been, will be and can be none other than the Absolute.  Such descriptions are therefore relative in nature and should be considered as such. The seeker (mumukshu) is the earliest stage when one is interested in knowing the Truth and one who is willing to listen to the Master or Guru with keen interest. The Aspirant is one who has absorbed the teachings of the Guru and is adept in putting the teachings into practice. The Aspirant has intuitive knowledge and experience of the Truth or Self. The one who is well established in the Truth and has merged with the Absolute is the Sage or the Accomplished.

The Sage or the Accomplished has merged his identity with the Absolute. The Sage has banished all doubt about the nature of the Truth or his True Nature. The Sage is unmovable in his conviction about his True Nature. The difference between an Aspirant and the Sage is the complete absence of doubt in the Sage. When the Aspirant becomes doubt- free and has unfailing conviction, he may be recognized as a Sage.

Initially, the Aspirant may have some doubts about his experience of the Self or the nature of the Truth as heard from the Guru. But, upon continued contemplation (nidhidhyasana) on his True Nature, the Aspirant becomes doubt-free. Knowledge with doubt is false knowledge. Spiritual action carried out with doubt will not succeed in getting the seeker to his goal. Devotion with doubt is useless to the seeker and is a sign of a false devotee (Bhakta).  Spiritual life with doubt is utterly useless. Pilgrimages done with doubt are useless and serve to only increase the doubt. Living with doubt, gaining spiritual knowledge with doubt, and listening to the Guru with doubt are all useless and unlikely to result in achieving the spiritual goal of Liberation (mukti).  All greatness achieved by one with doubt is useless.

It is ridiculous for one with doubt to boast about his knowledge of the scriptures for such talk is rudderless and only amounts to meaningless babbling.  The one with doubt knows well that there is no satisfaction in this type of false knowledge and is indeed actually miserable in his own bondage.

True Knowledge is free of all doubt and is conviction itself.  So, how does one overcome doubt? Doubt can be overcome by continuous contemplation on the nature of one's own True Self. Doubt is overcome by complete faith in the Guru. Doubt is overcome by continuous discrimination between the true and the false.  Doubt is overcome by complete surrender to the Guru. Body identification leads to sustenance of doubt. One who is thoroughly convinced that he is indeed the Supreme Self is indeed the Sage. What attributes can you give to the Sage who has no form and has merged with the Absolute?

Only the Rare One

Please consider this as the blog for the month of November 2013.

Although the Knowledge of Nonduality and the Truth is freely available and accessible, it is but a few who will ever approach it with a sincere desire. A few curious people may be inclined to dig a little deeper into the subject matter. Most will listen to the teachings of non-duality with a detached interest and then subsequently completely forget about it.  Out of the many, perhaps one person may actually feel an unquenchable thirst to not rest until the Truth is realized. Such a one is indeed very rare and fortunate. Such a one may look and behave like any other individual but make no mistake that once one has a conversation with him/her, there is no doubt about the profundity of his/her statements and observations.  Only a Jnani will recognize another Jnani immediately. All others will perhaps hear out the Jnani and come away with either nothing or else an observation that the talk was "deep" or "way over my head".

Despite the obvious simplicity of these teachings, one may not comprehend what is being pointed to. The reasons are many, but the main ones are the persistent identification with the body, lack of unquestioned faith and trust in the Guru, lack of a sincere desire, looking for some sort of gain from this Knowledge, feeling of superiority over others even if the knowledge gained is limited,  failure to continue to be devoted to the Guru, lack of eternal gratitude to the Guru, lack of humility and lack of compassion for others who may not understand this teaching. Basically, most of these reasons point to the fact that one believes himself or herself to be an entity, a person, despite the repeated explanation by the Guru that you are NOT an entity and all that you really, really are is the limitless Consciousness.  Keeping the ego alive and well fed is perhaps a major cause for the Understanding not to occur.

But, the rare one will drop all objections and obstacles to allow for the pointers from the Guru to penetrate deep inside. With continuous nurturing, analysis and meditation over the teachings of the Guru and with a sense of deep gratitude and reverence towards the Guru, the rare one will develop a deep conviction about the Truth. Once, the teaching has taken root, it will continue to grow no matter what one does and does not do. Unlike other kinds of knowledge, this Knowledge of the Truth continues to grow and get stronger. To go around thinking that one is the body and the mind, despite all the instructions and teachings of the Guru is indeed foolish.

True Meditation

You are all perhaps aware of meditation. So much is written about it and talked about. There are so many different types of meditation that a whole book can be written about it. The classic example of meditation may be aptly described as an act in which the meditator is meditating on an object of meditation. The whole purpose is to supposedly concentrate the mind on one single object. True, doing concentration of the mind on an object will improve concentration. But, it will get you nowhere near the Truth. Almost everyone thinks of meditation as an act that is accomplished by sitting in one position, in a quiet place or walking in a quiet place and keeping the thought focused on an object. The object could be anything like an idol of your favorite Deity or a color or just abstract images. So, what is the problem of meditating in this manner, you may ask.

To begin with, meditation means to think or contemplate or ponder about.  When you realize that meditation is just a process of contemplation or pondering, you realize that this can be done literally anywhere. No doubt, having a quieter surroundings will initially aid in allowing one to ponder on a subject or object.  But as you will see later on in this discussion, it is not necessary to be in one place or position or environment to be meditating. Meditation can be done right in the middle of a busy traffic intersection for all that matters.

The most important thing in meditation is to meditate on the meditator. Yes, that is right. Meditate on the meditator that is "you" or your self.  So, how to go about doing this? Keep asking your self the question, "Who is it that is meditating?". No doubt, the answer will be "I am meditating". Then the next question will be to ask your self "Who is this I?" or " Who am I?". In asking this question, you are not just letting the mind wander all over the place. Your aim is to find out the source of the "I".  Keep the mind fixed on the source of "I".  Perhaps you could ask the question " Where is this I arising from?".  In doing so, the mind becomes still and merges with its source. The meditator and the object of meditation become ONE.  This is true meditation.

With constant practice, it becomes possible to do this inquiry, or contemplation, or pondering, or meditation, or whatever else you may want to call this practice, in any place and at any time. In fact, the meditator ceases to exist as a separate entity from the object of meditation (which in this case is the Source of the I).

True meditation should be constant till clarity and peace itself become part of your waking hours. The feeling that you are meditating should subside gradually and all that is left is pure beingness in all its glory.

Communicating Truth

There are several ways in which the Truth can be communicated to the seeker. For those of you who are new to the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, it may perhaps be beneficial to familiarize yourself with them before trying to understand the matter being discussed below. While it is absolutely true that no practice or sadhana is really necessary for Self Realization, for most of the seekers, a level of mental preparedness is essential to grasp the pointers to the Truth. There are several methods to improve the one pointedness or focus of the mind on only one object so as to filter out all unnecessary distractions for the mind.  This one pointedness or determination of the mind is essential for the arrow of the pointer to strike the target. These methods would again depend on the nature of the mind of the seeker and level of maturity of the seeker. The methods include prayer, meditation, chanting (japa) or breath control (pranayama).  It is beyond the scope of today's discussion to address all these methods and the reader is advised to inquire about the same in the many exhaustive works of Vedanta already available.

This discussion is regarding the pointers from the Guru when the seeker asks the Guru about the Ultimate Truth.  This is true of seekers who have perhaps already exhausted all other avenues of reaching the Ultimate goal and have come to the Guru in desperation and hope to be finally liberated. Generally, depending on the level of maturity of the mind of the seeker, the Jnani (Realized one) will try to point him/her to the Truth. The Jnani can know, based on the questions that the seeker asks as well as the responses or answers to questions from the seeker, as to the level of maturity of the seeker. There are basically two methods of communication in this world. One is through the medium of silence and the other is through the medium of language and words or gestures, and the second is through silence. For most of you readers, the first method may seem a bit strange as to be even mentioned. Since, we are addressing this matter in the state of duality, remember that opposites or dyads are the nature of duality. What is silence without sound and what is sound without silence?

The Guru/ Jnani may decide to convey the message through silence or the look of Grace. Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi is a well known for using this method of conveying the Truth. It is a powerful method with immediate results for the mature seeker who is ready. To give an analogy, if the wood is dry and ready, a spark is all it takes for it to burn immediately. On the other hand, if the wood is only partially dry, it takes a little while for it to catch the fire and may need several attempts to light it. A wood that is still wet, will need more time for it to dry before the spark can even attempt to get it to burn. In the same way, the state of mind will determine if the pointer from the Guru will achieve immediate results or if more time is needed. In the method of silence, all it needs is for the Guru to look into the eyes of the seeker and the seeker is no more. The seeker becomes one with the Guru and the message gets through.

The other method of communication is through the medium of words or language. Since most seekers are immersed in this state of duality and language is the medium of duality (the speaker and the listener), this method is likely to work for the majority. Shree Nisargadatta Maharaj is an example of a Jnani who exploited this method of communication. After all, it does not matter how the message gets through to the seeker, the goal of the Guru is to make sure that it gets through. Even if the message from the Guru does not light the fire right away, in due course of time it will. The words of the Guru will never go to waste on the ears of a sincere and determined seeker. It is just a matter of time before the seed shall sprout, as the Maharaj used to say.

The Known is Not Real

Strange as it may seem, the seeker is on a quest of more knowledge. The seeker feels that one more bit of information may seal the deal in his search for the Truth or Reality. The seeker strongly believes that there may be a missing bit of information that will somehow solve the puzzle of the nature of Reality. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

While it is true that a Guru is a must for showing the way to Reality, the Guru actually does not tell the seeker the Truth. The Guru is a guidepost pointing in the direction of Reality. The seeker must then do a sincere inquiry into the nature of Reality and constantly keep his mind focused on this matter of interest. Why is it that the Guru will not reveal the Truth to the seeker? Is the Guru not interested in the liberation of the seeker? Of course not.  There is nothing more important to the Guru than to liberate the seeker. The Guru keeps repeating the same instructions again and again. It is the doubting seeker that fails to grasp the pointers from the Guru.

The Guru has told that whatever is known is not Real. For those of you who are still wondering what exactly does one mean by "Real", here is an explanation. In brief, Real would be anything that does not change. It thereby implies that the Real would be changeless, unmoving, immortal (beyond birth and death) and eternal (beyond time). On inquiry it becomes obvious that all that is within the realm of the known is capable of change.  All objective knowledge is therefore unreal. The only unchanging knowledge is the Self Knowledge or the Knowingness that I am. This is the closest one can get to information about Reality. However, this knowledge or sense of being or sense of 'I', is also not real. You have to investigate as to when and how you got this knowledge or sense of 'I'. Is this sense of 'I' going to last forever? Is this sense of 'I' not related to the presence of a body?  If there is no body, would there be a sense of 'I'?  This sense of 'I' came spontaneously and will go spontaneously. There is nothing you can do to hold on to it. But, as long as it is there, you love this 'I' and want it to go on forever.  Ramana Maharshi said "what comes and goes is not real".  So, you know that this 'I' is also not real.

The Knowledge itself knows that the 'I' is unreal.  There is no entity that has this knowledge. Just Knowledge itself Knowing. In the absence of the 'I', who is there is know the Reality?  The Jnani (one who has Realized) does not go about saying " I am Real and you are unreal". On the other hand, the Jnani says " I am unreal and you are unreal".  The Jnani knows that the play of dyad and triads, of knowledge and ignorance, is itself an illusion or maya.

The Jnani knows that the Unknown is the Reality.  Whatever is known cannot be Real.  Therefore, you can only know what you are not. 

The Guru Is Not An Individual

When one starts out inquiring into one's own nature, he or she is still trapped in the false belief that he or she is an entity separate and independent of the world of objects around them. The seeker then comes across a Guru or Teacher who being Enlightened, gives the seeker Knowledge of the Truth. The Guru points one to one's own True Nature and encourages one to inquire within. However, instead of Listening to the words of the Guru, the seeker often starts looking up to the Guru as an individual who has pointed out the Truth. Because of the false assumption that the Guru is indeed the body-mind entity (individual) who is speaking the words, the words of the Guru fail to hit the intended target, which is the ego or the false self of the seeker. The seeker thus fails to grasp the real meaning of the pointers. The greater problem however is that the seeker starts to make judgements on the behavior, character, actions and personality of the Guru and begins to wonder as to how this can be reconciled with what is being heard coming from the mouth of the Guru. The Guru when seen as an individual seems like any ordinary person, full of the contradictions that make up an individual.  Your impression of what a Guru should look and behave like may not necessarily correlate to what is presented to you by the Guru. The profound words coming from the mouth of the Guru seem to be contradictory to the general impression one may get on seeing the Guru as an individual. It is one of the main reasons why the pointers from the Guru are not fully absorbed.

When one takes oneself to be an individual, it is but natural to look at all others as individuals, separate from your own self. But, when one Realizes that one is not an individual, then there is no distinction between oneself and the others. When listening to the words of the Guru, do not believe that you are listening to an individual. On the contrary, realize that it is consciousness speaking to consciousness. To state it better, speaking and listening are happening in consciousness. There is in reality, no entity involved in this process. When one lets the Message from the Guru penetrate deep into the very consciousness that one is, then there is profound and definite shift in the consciousness which leads to Self Realization.

The Guru is in fact nameless and formless. No identity can be given to the Guru. The Guru is none other than your own Self. The Guru is not separate from you. The one who thinks is separate is the ghost that you call "me". On inquiry you will realize that there is no entity here that you can call "me" or "mine". So, give up trying to analyze the personality that is trying to teach you the Truth. Instead, sit quietly and LISTEN to the words of the Guru. For the words of the Guru themselves will lead you to the Truth of who you really, really are.

The End Of Spirituality

It is indeed amazing that we take for granted that we are an entity- an entity with a name and form. One rarely if ever questions the source or the origin of this entity. In the meantime, one is busy gathering more and more knowledge from various sources to enhance their self worth, whether it be in the field of arts and sciences, material wealth, religious knowledge or spiritual knowledge. Based on this gathered knowledge, one begins to feel important or great about themselves. Often the one who has gained knowledge of scriptures and spiritual knowledge feels superior to others who are ignorant of this knowledge. The spiritualist feels that he or she can somehow save the world and solve its problems.

Sadly, such a spiritualist has obviously not found out the truth about his/her own True Identity. Such a one has failed to question the source of the knowledge "I am". One has failed to question and find out the source of beingness, the taste of beingness, and the nature of beingness. Why and how has this beingness appeared? What makes the beingness what it is? In the absence of this body, would there be any knowledge of beingness and to whom?  No one seems to be interested in getting to the bottom of these questions. One is more interested in the branches of the tree rather than the roots. Understandably, the branches are more easily seen but it is the roots that you are really after.

All knowledge is in the realm of consciousness. But have you ever wondered what exactly is this consciousness and is it really the Truth? Is this consciousness not the source of this grand illusion, that we call the world and the universe. Without consciousness, would there be a 'you' or a 'me'? Is it not true that because of this consciousness, you have come to know that you are? What happens to all this knowledge of spirituality you have collected, if there is no 'you'? Who is it that claims ownership of spirituality?

When the Truth dawns on 'you', 'you' disappear and merge into the Truth. With your disappearance, there is the end of spirituality. THAT is beyond knowledge and ignorance. THAT is who you really, really ARE. Don't get fooled by the illusion of beingness. Step backwards and beyond this illusion to submerge into the Truth. The problem with most seekers is that they are unwilling to take this step.

The Vanity of Chasing Experiences

All through our lives we assume we have to collect pleasant experiences.  We give so much importance to experiences that it seems to define our entire life.  Do we not hear people commenting on how a dead person had a rough life or that a dead person had a great life. Have you ever given it a thought? All your life you have been falsely assuming that you are collecting experiences, experiences of all kinds, good and bad. Since, early childhood, one is constantly chasing pleasant experiences or out of curiosity some form of unique or different experience.  It is not uncommon for one to state "my wish is to experience that before I die". Whether it is seeing some geographical place on earth, or to taste some unique food, or to enjoy a joyride in the amusement park, or some mind altering substance, or any other form of experience.

Even in the spiritual field, people are constantly chasing experiences. They travel all over the world to meet some Guru or teacher, to see if they can learn the secret of "reaching higher levels of consciousness".  In meditation, they may experience a "blue light" or "feeling of bliss" and then they want to replicate that pleasant experience all the time. Sooner or later, they get frustrated because of the inability to maintain that pleasant experience.  Nature hopes you will learn the vanity of chasing experiences from this frustration and actually question this whole business of experiencing. Sadly, the opposite is more likely to happen. One is more likely to get even more desperate for pleasant experiences. Is it not amazing?

Based on memory, one can feel as if they actually relive the experience.  One gets the false sense of collecting all the experiences in a sort of bag which one feels will be treasured for ever. One can often hear people saying "you must experience this -man, it is awesome".  Hearing this, one desperately wants to replicate that same pleasant experience that his or her friend had.  Despite all efforts, all experiences are transitory and vanish just as fast, leaving one longing for more (depending on the type of experience). Obviously, one does not want bad experiences!  The mind always chases pleasant experiences and shuns painful experiences. The result? One is constantly in search of an everlasting pleasant experience.  One becomes a slave of the mind.

You hear of some great spiritual teacher who at least in the photos, looks like a picture of bliss.  You wonder if the teacher has some secret that allows him to be in state of bliss.  Maybe, if you can follow his advice and do some sadhana (practice), you may, just may be able to reach that "higher level of consciousness" that he is talking about and permanently experience that state of bliss.  Really? You can see how easy it is to fall into the trap of chasing pleasant experiences.

Can you really take your experiences with you when you "die"?  What happens to all your experiences when you die?  Do they remain somewhere? Is not an experience transitory in itself? Are you not dissatisfied with the transitory, the false, the unreal?  Is there any value in anything that is not eternal or permanent?  Is it not the eternal or permanent or REAL that you are actually in search of? Don't you want the REAL?

What happens to all the pleasant experiences that you had in your dream last night? Poof! Vanished as soon as you woke up.  So, would you really chase experiences in the waking state, if you realized that they are just as transitory as the experiences in a dream?  If, on realizing that the waking state is nothing but a prolonged dream, would you give the experiences in the waking state any value? Just like in a dream would they not vanish on Awakening? 

Would it not be preferable to be AWAKENED from this dream world rather than continue to chase false experiences in this dream world?  THINK, INVESTIGATE AND WAKE UP!

Dead and Gone- Part 3

Staying on this same topic, let us further explore how we can investigate the subject of birth and death and get to the Truth.  As we already learned, the body is nothing but the combination of five elements (earth, water, fire, air and space). After so called 'death' of the body, the elements mix back with the universal elements. Meaning thereby that there is no such thing as "my individual water" or "my individual space" (although myspace.com may object to that statement!!) or "my individual air". Air is air, water is water and space is space. In the same way, consciousness is consciousness. There is nothing like individual consciousness or universal consciousness.  However, for the sake of understanding and clarity, a Guru may use such terms. After so called 'death', the consciousness no longer having a vehicle for its expression (i.e. the body), returns to universal consciousness. There is no actual return as such.  For example, the space inside an earthen pot is the same as the space outside the pot.  On breaking the earthen pot, the space inside does not actually 'return' to the space outside.  Space inside mixes up with space outside, really? You get the point.

As already explained elsewhere in this blog, consciousness is like electricity. Electricity is electricity. There is no essential difference between electricity in Mexico and electricity in Holland or electricity in China or Russia.  Just like electricity can function in different forms and produce different effects, consciousness does so too.  Electricity functioning through a fan produces a breeze, through an oven produces heat, through an air-conditioner produces cooling, through a radio produces sound, or through a motor produces motion. In the same way, consciousness expressing through different forms like humans, dogs or worms produces different effects. The consciousness expressing in the body through various permutations and combinations of the gunas (attributes or gunas are Sattva, Rajas,and Tamas) give rise to unlimited personalities in the same species. The effects can be many but the cause is one.

For something to die it must be born.  Keeping it simple, we can see that the elements are not born for they were there before the so called birth of 'my body'.  Similarly, the consciousness is not born with the birth of "my body".   So, what exactly is born?  Can you not SEE the obvious? Nothing is born and therefore nothing dies. What happens is that the consciousness no longer expresses itself through that particular body.  Where is the question of birth and death other than a concept created in the mind based on the primary concept of being 'born' as a separate and independent body-mind entity called "me"?

Having heard and digested all of the above, who and what are you?  In what capacity are "you" going to change or do anything?

Dead and Gone- Part 1

We have so much  to learn from death. In fact a close scrutiny or investigation of death as an event, may in fact give the answer to who you really are or the Truth. There are lots of questions which arise when someone close to you dies. Once the process of grieving is over, it may be an opportunity to investigate further into this matter, if one is so inclined. Assuming that all those who read this blog are already well ingrained in the philosophy of Advaita, one does not have to wonder where this is leading to.

In all languages, when someone dies, it is common to say that so-and-so "is dead and gone". Which brings to the question as to WHO is it that is dead. And further, TO WHERE HAS THE DEAD PERSON GONE? In that case, is it not appropriate to ask as WHO is it that is born in the first place. Alternatively, where did the person come from? For, if one has to be gone, it is assumed that one has firstly got to come from somewhere. You cannot go anywhere unless you have come from somewhere.

Merely having a discussion on this subject is not at all enough. Most discussions would involve what you have heard or learnt from someone. Depending on your upbringing,  you may come up with answers that were told to you by someone or the other. A dead person is certainly not going to be of much help either! So, the answer has to come from you itself.

So, where should one begin? It would be most appropriate to begin with birth since there cannot be death without birth. There cannot be life without death and death without life or birth. But, if that seems like too much and you want to stick to the topic of death, so be it.  Since, so far  you have associated yourself with being the body, it should be assumed that the body is the one that is dead. Well, the body does not go anywhere after death, does it? The body is still there in the coffin. The only thing is that it has stopped responding to its name being called out.  The body does not say "I am dead". So, who is it that has died and gone if it is not the body? Keep your mind pondering over this question. Of course, you can accuse the author of not giving the answer since it would be so much easier. But, in that case, you can also accuse the author of providing the answer based on the author's viewpoint and therefore brush it off as yet another philosophical concept. More so, if the answer is given here then it would be similar to all other indirect knowledge that you have so far accumulated. But, don't feel abandoned. Keep pondering over this and the answer shall come to you from within your own self.

The next point to ponder over is "where did he/she come from?" if he/she has died and gone. Find out who or what is the personality that arrived in this world so spontaneously and left so spontaneously. If it is not the body, then why do you say that your birth day is the day the body came out your mother's womb? Can  you deny the fact that the body was already there in the womb prior to its exit out of the womb? Also, is there not something fundamentally wrong in saying that birth is the appearance of the baby body from the mothers womb, but that death is not the disappearance of that same body. Or to put it more bluntly, if birth=appearance of body, then death should be =disappearance of the body. But you know that it is not how it is. The body remains right where it is after so called death.  So, obviously, whoever it is that is born is certainly not the body. Then, who is it that is born and and who is it that dies, if it is not the body? In fact, is there anything like birth and death? Or is it yet another delusion that you have fallen for?

Ponder over this carefully till you get the answer from within. You will be amazed when you get the answer.

Just This Ordinary Awareness

This essay is meant to dispel any misconceptions one may still have about what is being pointed to in advaita teachings. The teaching is actually very simple.  Unfortunately, because of the conditioning of the mind, various concepts are created by the mind. Thereby, the simplicity of the teaching gets covered by various concepts which lead to further concepts and one gets lost in the jungle of concepts.  There is no doubt that this very author in an attempt to clarify one concept may have unwillingly and unwittingly created many more and perhaps contributed to the confusion of many a seeker. One has to get back to the basics and stay there and ponder over the teachings carefully and repeatedly to Realize the Truth.

Who YOU really, really ARE is THIS SIMPLE ORDINARY AWARENESS. Yes, indeed it is that simple! Then why is it that everyone cannot understand what is being pointed to? Simply because most readers and seekers are trying to approach this with a very strongly established identity with the body and mind. An identity of being someone, of being so and so.  If only one could somehow let go and simply dive deep into the source of the mind, without worrying about losing themselves or gaining anything from this adventure, then one would easily Realize the simplicity of Truth.  While, this may seem to many like one is being given the run around, it is not so.  It is not because of a lack in what the Guru has to say to the student that the student did not get it. On the contrary, it is merely because the student's mind would not accept on face value what the Guru was trying to convey.

So, while you are seated at your computer or where ever you are at this moment, stop and take a moment to LISTEN to the pointers.  Do not get lost in the words! Instead, ponder over the MEANING of the words. Clear the mind of all concepts, right now. Answer the questions which you yourself must pose to yourself. Do not give up until you get an answer.

OK. Right now, can you say for sure that you are aware of sitting and looking at this material? Can you deny the fact that you are aware of both your existence and the fact that you are awake? Did someone have to give you that knowledge or information?  Is it not self effulgent. You KNOW you ARE. You are AWARE of being. Did you do something to be aware? Is it not spontaneous?  Even without a thought you KNOW you ARE.  This ordinary AWARENESS cannot be questioned. It is PRESENT - or should we say it is PRESENCE itself. Thoughts give one the feeling of movement because of identifying oneself with the thoughts.  But, in reality, this Awareness is not moving. It is Still.  What can one say about Awareness when one identifies with the Awareness? Any attempt to say or think anything is a movement and movement is mind. All one can say is that one is aware of thinking.  So, it is ineffable. Can one even begin to try to assign a beginning to this Awareness? Not at all, since time is an appearance in this Awareness.

In deep sleep when there are no thoughts, can you deny that you ARE?  In fact, you can say nothing in that state of deep sleep.  One can only say or think something in the waking state.  You cannot deny the fact that there is Awareness in deep sleep as you can testify to your being asleep when there is wakefulness in the morning. It becomes evident that all of this discussion and pondering is actually just a play of the mind. In fact, in the absence of the mind, there is just Awareness. There is no such thing as mind.  It is only a matter of the mind to come to this conclusion. That is it.

Yes, it is as simple as this. The problem is that most readers and seekers will not have complete and unequivocal faith in the words of the Guru and therefore keep floundering around in the world of spirituality, collecting and analyzing more and more concepts. Eventually, the seeker is lost in the world of concepts. Concepts which create various classifications and systems of Self Realization, and concepts which create more and more methodologies of attaining Realization. One teacher may say do this, while another teacher may point to another method and yet another teacher may point in a totally different direction or method of achieving Nirvana or Salvation or Liberation or whatever other word that comes to mind. The more you seek, the more you get lost in the concepts. What is wrong with just BEING?

Yet, all along, THAT (GOD) one has been searching for has been a constant Companion. A Companion who has never left you even for a moment. Not only that, there is nothing more obvious than Awareness. No method. No technique. No teachings. No Do-er, no doing and nothing to be done. Just BE AS YOU ALREADY ARE.

Devotion After Realization

Realization is spontaneous. There is actually nothing any one does or can do to "attain" Realization. For, in reality, there is no individual entity apart from the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient ONE.  So, where is the question of a separate entity if all is ONE. In that case, the topic of today's discussion is an oxymoron, isn't it? It seems to be a total contradiction of what is just said above. So, why is it important to have devotion even after so-called Realization?

While Realization of one's own True Nature is effortless, becoming established or abiding in the Reality is not so. The pull of Maya (illusion) is very strong. All of this is Maya. This discussion and the quest for Realization is all part of Maya. The Ego is a ghost but a strong ghost. It has established its identity and strength over time and there is no way the Ego is giving up without a fight. In fact, this is well established in all ancient mythological stories as the fight between the good and the evil. The evil in this case would be the Ego. Strangely, it is the ego fighting the ego, since this entire play is happening in the mind (which is nothing but the ego itself!). Confusing? Well, this is where the ego eventually wins over if not guarded against. The mind will create all types of thoughts which will doubt the very Realization.  While one may have an Understanding, the trap of the Ego is ever present.  True Realization comes when the Ego does not rise up anymore.

This is where the Guru comes to the rescue as always. Constant devotion to the Guru is a must to remain established in Reality. Constant devotion is no different than constant attention to the Guru. Even though the Guru may be thought of as a form (Saguna), it is intuitively known that the Guru is the formless Light who is within all (Nirguna). Remember that all forms and manifestation arise from the formless Unmanifest. There is no difference between form and formless. The formless is the Satguru. For the mind, it may be easy to express devotion to the Guru with a form. It does not matter so long as devotion is directed towards the Guru. Praying to the Guru and having one's attention directed towards the Guru at all times is absolutely essential in remaining established in one's own Reality.

May the Satguru pull you within into the Ocean of Bliss and Peace.

The author remains eternally grateful and pays his obeisance at the feet of the Satguru, who in the manifest form appeared as Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj to reveal the Truth.

The Sounds of Silence- Part 2

How does one ever understand what the sages were trying to convey in their description of the Absolute as Silence or Stillness? Well, there is a way. The way to go about is to renounce or discard every concept that the mind tries to bring up in description of the Truth. Whenever we communicate, including here, we have to use words or sounds to do so. But what exactly are words? They are just ways for the mind to create a concept or imagination or image. For instance, if someone says 'computer', the person hearing it immediately conceptualizes a 'box with a screen showing images and a keyboard attached to it'. But the word itself is nothing but a sound or an image on paper. Without this ability to conceptualize, it is impossible for communication to occur between people. All communication is at the level of the mind. All words and sounds are in duality.


In asking the student to merge into Silence, the Sages gave an easy solution to finding the Truth. They have asked the seeker or the student to give up or negate all concepts or imaginations. In fact, the sages were speaking from their own experience of  Nirvikalpa samadhi.  In the state of nirvikalpa there is absolutely no concept and yet it is still a state of the mind and therefore limited in time. In this state of the mind, there is utter stillness or silence. Silence means absence of concepts or absence of any mental modifications or vritti (vritti-activity of forming concepts in the mind). 'Nir' means 'no or without' and 'kalpa' means 'aeon or a long period of time'. We know that time is a concept of the mind and there can be no creation without time.  Vikalpa is impression of thought or concept. Therefore, Nirvikalpa is the absence of thought, absence of time and concepts; a state where there  is no thought, no movement in consciousness or awareness of any concepts or images. But as soon as we describe this state, we begin to conceptualize and imagine this state and immediately move away from what is being pointed to. All concepts are a result of movements in consciousness. So, when the student returned to the Sage to ask if this state of nirvikalpa samadhi is the Truth, the Sage replied "neti"- meaning 'not this'. The Sage was asking the student to renounce or discard even this experience and what is left over is Blank- indescribable but intuitively understood as That which is prior to or beyond all concepts including the conceptual experience of nirvikalpa.

But, the student was not able to grasp this abstract answer given by the Sage. The Sage then had to tell the student that it is through Knowledge of Discrimination (viveka) that the mind can finally get the intuitive understanding of the Truth. This is called intuitive understanding (or Understanding as this author likes to call it- with a capital U) by careful use of the Knowledge of Discrimination. For the majority of seekers of Truth who are likely mired in the endless concepts created by the mind, the discrimination between the false and the Truth is the way to empty the mind of all the useless concepts one by one. In this endeavor, complete faith in the words of the Guru or the Sage is vital. The words of the Guru are the way to the Truth.  For many a student, the way to Silence is through the sound or words of the Guru. When one hangs on to the words of the Guru with complete unconditional faith, there is utter Stillness and Silence for one merges with the Guru. In hanging on to the words of the Guru, one loses his/her identity and merges into the Silence, the very Silence from which all the sounds of the Sadguru emerge.

The Sounds of Silence- Part 1

Your True Nature is Silence, Stillness, Unmoving, and Solid. Is it not amazing that so much has been written, discussed, talked about in so many languages about a simple subject of silence. How can words and sounds describe silence? It is almost as absurd as someone shouting to describe or emphasize silence!  The words and sounds try to carve an image of silence. But is it really possible? Silence by itself indicates the absence of sound. And yet all sounds must emerge from silence. For if there is no sound, there is silence and the interval between sounds is silence. Therefore, the best way to describe silence is to remain silent. The author's Guru, Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi was best known for this particular method of teaching about the Truth and even those who were in His presence were silenced spontaneously. There is no better way to convey the Truth than mouna (silence).

That brings us to the question of why the ancient Rishis and Sages describe the Absolute as also Silence or Stillness. They figured that if they try to describe the Absolute with any word or sound then it would not be true. Any one who has "experienced" the Truth knows fully well that there is no way to describe It.  Therefore, the only way to point a seeker of Truth in the right direction would be emphasize the absence of any sound or movement and one way to communicate the same in words is to describe it as Silence or Stillness. In fact, the production of sound is in itself a creation of duality. In the non-dual Truth, there is but nothing, just this indescribable Stillness or Silence. Yet, all creation is arising out of this Stillness or Silence. It is indeed Silence which is full of sound. It is indeed Stillness which is full of movement. Sound and movement are in consciousness but the Truth is beyond or prior to consciousness.

So, how is one to understand what the Sages were trying to convey? For this we will go to part 2 of this topic.

Knowledge is Ignorance

What you seek in the form of knowledge has to be based on the Primary Knowledge that you exist. This Knowledge of Existence is delivered in the form of the thought 'I am". You KNOW you ARE.  There is no doubt about it. You are absolutely certain about your existence without anyone telling you about it.  In your Original True State, you did not know you exist and then all of a sudden this Knowledge appeared spontaneously. This knowledge or "I-consciousness" arose spontaneously in your early childhood. You took this knowledge as being true and thereafter started building a story about yourself being an entity with a body and name. The "I-consciousness" or the Knowledge 'I am' is the Primary Illusion. Based on this illusion, you have gone about accumulating more and more indirect or acquired knowledge. Never having questioned the validity of this Primary Knowledge, your quest for spiritual knowledge was pursued in the wrong direction! The spiritual knowledge or indirect knowledge is nothing but more layers of ignorance(not knowledge as you think) added upon the Primary Illusion or Primary Knowledge of "I-consciousness".  Hence, despite all your claims to understanding of the pointers to your True State, you have continued to suffer because you have failed to understand this Primary Knowledge.  Suffering means that you have continued to search and seek out knowledge or experiences.

It is imperative that you question as to how this Primary Knowledge or consciousness came upon you. This Primary Knowledge can be present only as long as this body form is nourished with food and maintained. When this food body disintegrates (called 'death' in common lay terms), then the Primary Knowledge departs.  So, where has all your accumulated knowledge gone to?  What is the use of all your accumulated indirect knowledge of the arts, spirituality, sciences etc.? What is the sum total of all your indirect knowledge and experiences?  Could you have had any experience of any kind without consciousness?  Is it not true therefore that all experiences are in consciousness? And is it not true that you have placed so much emphasis on the experiences and on the indirect acquired knowledge of spirituality without inquiring as to who or what is the primary experiencer? Is it not true that all your sadhana (spiritual practice) is only to perpetuate and pay homage to the acquired knowledge and experiences? Can you in all sincerity ask yourself these questions and come to conclusions?

This Primary Knowledge is time bound and body bound. Therefore it is not eternal. What you truly, truly ARE is THAT, which is ETERNAL.  Eternal means that which is not born and therefore does not die, that which is timeless and therefore any thing cannot be IT.  So, it is essential to analyze and understand the true nature and origins of this Primary Knowledge and having understood that it is only an illusion, an appearance bound by time, you discard it as not you. The Primary Knowledge- I am, is itself not the Truth but it is all that you have access to. Therefore, while you must pray to this Primary Knowledge as your God, you must realize that what you truly, truly ARE is Prior to this Primary Knowledge.  Question this Primary Knowledge of I am.  Stay with this Knowledge.  Pray to this Knowledge.  It will lead you to Its Source. Keep the mind focused on this Primary Knowledge, the Knowledge 'I am'. Anything else you think about is leading you away from Its Source.  As this author's Guru Nisargadatta Maharaj pointed out- "Go back. Recede." Realizing that you are Prior to any knowledge or ignorance, can you take any pride in knowing who you truly, truly ARE?

What you truly, truly ARE is prior to or beyond any knowledge and ignorance. Discarding all knowledge and ignorance as not mine, I rest in my True State which is the Stateless State of THAT.  I am THAT.