For I Thought

For I thought - A poem offered at the feet of Nothingness as it is revealed by the Cosmos.

For I Thought

I thought I was a stone block, needed to be sculpted.
I waited for the sculptor, who can chisel me into a nice sculpture.
For I thought I need to be chiseled.

One day sculptor came and I was happy upon his arrival.
While the sculptor started chiseling, I was growling with pain,
For I thought I am losing something that belonged to me

Upon the first stroke there fell a large chunk of portion from the block.
I was happy even though there was pain,
For I thought, I am being sculpted.

I cried and cried with pain as the sculptor chiseled and chiseled,
I waited patiently for the sculptor to finish the task at hand.
For I thought, I can be a nice sculpture.

Years have gone by and the chiseling continued,
The big chunks disappeared and small chips started falling,
For I thought, I am being sculpted.

As the chiseling lessened and smoothing has started
One day I asked the sculptor, how long will it take?
For I thought it has been a long time.

Sculptor said "it depends upon you".
I didn't understand what the sculptor said
For I thought I can understand the sculptor.

While I waited patiently, again years have gone by
And the smoothing continued,
One day again I asked the sculptor, how long will it take?
For I thought it has been a long time.

Sculptor said "it depends upon you".
I didn't understand what the sculptor said
For I thought at least now, I can understand the sculptor.

Again I waited patiently, this time lives have gone by
Chiseling and smoothing continued,
One day I took a moment and asked the sculptor, how long will it take?
For I thought it has been a very long time.

This time sculptor answered in a different way,
Sculptor said "as long as you think".
Suddenly in that moment everything vanished

For I thought I was a stone block,
For I thought I need to be chiseled
For I thought I needed a sculptor

For I thought I existed,
Everything existed
For I thought

It was revealed that there was never a stone block,
Neither the sculptor existed nor the sculpture.
What eternally existed is only that Nothingness.

All these moments, I was dreaming
For I thought.

What is transformation and transcending?

Q) What is transformation and transcending?

A) Transformation happens when one form changes into another. A human body (in fact all living beings with a form) undergoes transformation every second. Millions of cells die and take birth every second. We would be able to see the difference only after a period of time. That is the reason why there are different stages in human life. Birth, infant, child, young, middle age, old age and death. There is a physical change in the body and at every moment there is change in the form which is called as transformation.

While the physical change is called as transformation, the psychological change based upon the levels of consciousness is called transcending. When the thought process "shifts" from one level of consciousness to another level of consciousness, it is called transcending. In reality what is happening is a shift in the focus of the witness (one who is witnessing).  This can be understood by a simile. A camera man will change the focus of the lens based upon the object that needs to be captured by the camera. He/she can focus on the distant object by defocusing the lens from the nearer object, similary the focus can be shifted from the distant object to the nearer object just by defocusing the lens from the distant object. But when the object to be focused and the object to be defocused are at the same distance for example an image on a screen, then whatever may be the technique physically it is not possible to shift the focus. However, mentally one can defocus and focus on something that is required by that individual at that moment.

If I am watching a movie which is projected on a screen and if I have to focus on the screen and not on the movie that is being projected, then I have to shift my focus mentally on to the screen and this can happen only by transcending my thought process from one level to another level. Even though physically my eyes might be watching the movie and the images that are being projected on the screen are caught by the camera of my eyes, still they will not reach my mind as it has shifted its focus from the ever changing movie to the non-changing screen. This shift in focus from the ever changing and ever transient movie to the non-changing, ever existent screen is called as transcending.

The empty space that we "see, don't see, perceive or don't perceive by our senses" is the screen and the world (earth, stellar objects, everything that is manifested with a form) that we see or perceive through our senses is the movie.This empty space is the eternal void with dazzling darkness in which the manifested world is being projected including the light. The knowing or the knowledge to shift this focus by the individual or the "witness" is called "pragna." This can either happen by mere Grace or when one gets bored with the ever changing movie that is being projected on the ever existent non-changing screen.

What is happening in reality is that the individual has become aware of the ever existing void just by shifting the focus from the illusory world. Paradoxically it is not that an individual has become aware of it (as individual is also a projected image on the screen) and it does not matter what words are used for this happening, in truth what is happening is that the "awareness" has become aware of "itself".