Bless Thy Clear Vision!

Bless Thy Clear Vision!

O Eternal One

Bless Thy Clear Vision!
For I want to See Thee.

As my vision is distorted

As my hearing is distorted

As my every perception is distorted,
uncertain, biased, prejudiced, and judgmental.

I want to See Thee

In every particle, 

and in every space of 

Thy creation

O Eternal One

Bless Thy Clear Vision.

I Saw Thee!

I Saw Thee!

When my reflections stopped

I saw Thy Reflection

When my noises and whispers stopped

I heard Thy Voice

When my tremors and waves stopped

I saw Thee breathing

When my breath stopped

I saw Thee living

Exists Naught!

Exists Naught!

Seeing thee, eye not

Hearing thee, ear not

Perceiving thee, perceiver not

Only Thine Eternal Existence
Is aware of Thine Existence.

Exists Naught!

నిన్ను చూచినది కన్ను కాదు
నిన్ను విన్నది చెవి కాదు
నిన్ను అనుభూతి చెందినది అనుభూతుడు కాదు
నీ అనంత ఉనికి మాత్రమే
నీ గురుంచి ఎరిగినది.
ఉన్నది మరేది లేదు .

Thy Great Silence! - 2

Thy Great Silence! - Part 2

O Eternal One!

In the nooks and corners,

In the vast landscapes,

In the bricks and brooks,

In the animate and inanimate,

Through Thy Eternal Grace

Heard Thy Great Silence.

O Eternal One!

Amidst the trouble and rubble,

Amidst the bubble sputter,

Amidst the voices and noises,

Amidst every half-a-breath,

Through Thy Eternal Grace

Heard Thy Great Silence.

O Eternal One!

Amidst the functioning of sinews and tissues,

Amidst the movements of spleen and pancreas,

Amidst the contraction and de-contraction of heart,

Amidst the expansion and contraction of lungs,

In the nooks and corners of this body and elsewhere,

Through Thy Eternal Grace

Heard Thy Great Silence.

O Eternal One!

When this volunteered involuntarily,

When act of surrendering was halted,

When every undoing happened,

When every effort has turned effortless,

Amidst every thought and

Amidst every mental modification,

Through Thy Eternal Grace

Heard Thy Great Silence.

O Eternal One!

Thy Great Silence is ever present,

in every moment,

in every space,

in every thing,

and everywhere -

Unheard by any.

Until Thy Grace,

Bestowed upon

And heard by every particle

of Thy illusory creation.

To merge back into

Thine Eternal Silence.

through

Thy Great Silence!

Thy Great Silence! - 1

Thy Great Silence!

I searched for Thee,

in the nooks and corners,

in the bricks and brooks,

in the damsels and petals,

in the voices and noises,

Yet could not find Thee.

I searched for Thee,

in the trouble and rubble,

in the bubble and dabble,

in the whispers of breath,

Yet could not find Thee.

Searching outside,

failing miserably,

I turned within.

And after entering

Thy Great Silence,

Found thee waiting 

eternally for me,

to bless me
with thy grace

Thine Eternal Seeing

Thine Eternal Seeing!

O Eternal One!

Thou hast given,

The sight to look

Within us, and

To look into

Thy creation.

We have created,

Every possible distortion,

Not to see the Truth,

And see,

Only thine Eternal illusion

And created havoc

For ourselves and

In Thy creation.

Bless us to remove,

Our lenses,

Our distorted images,

Our distorted thoughts,

Our prejudices, biases, judgments,

And the false images,

All illusions.

Make us to see,

Through thine

Eternal Eye

That sees,

The Eternal

Unto Eternity

Thine Eternal Design!

Thine Eternal Design!

O Eternal One!

Thou hast graced,

Upon this part of,

Thy creation.

To see

Thine Eternal Design.

In the fresh daisies,

In the gentle lilies,

In the dew drop of

The leaf, and the petal,

Is Thine Eternal Design.

In the water droplet,

In ponds and lakes,

In streams and rivers,

In the vast seas and oceans,

Is Thine Eternal Design.

In the seed and seedling,

In the Flower,

Blossomed and withered,

In the green lush leaves,

In the dried leaves rustle,

Is Thine Eternal Design.

In the lives' transformation,

From one form to another

Though cell single, or

The farthest stars and stellar bodies,

Is Thine Eternal Design.

In the Life and Death,

And in all paradoxes

Of Thy Creation

Is Thine Eternal Design

Thou continue playest,

Thy Cosmic Joke

Myriad forms
transforming one to another,

Weaving patterns infinite

To make thy play enchanting

Is Thine Eternal Design.

Knowing naught,

Of Thy Creation

Thy created myriad forms

Suffers the illusory separation

With Thee.

This also,

Is Thine Eternal Design.

The Creation, 
sustenance of the created, and

Merging back the creation.

All processes and everything,

Is Thine Eternal Design.

O Infinite!

Whilst the seeker seekest,

Thine Eternal Design,

The Sought,

Seekest Thou!

Thy Cosmic Illusion!

Thy Cosmic Illusion!

O Eternal One!

Thou hast created,

Thy Cosmic Illusion.

To keep Eluding,

Thy Creation.

We got deluded,

In thy Cosmic motion picture,

And we forgot that,

Thou art the One,

To be sought eternal.

Where thou art,

Thine illusion is also eternal,

Deluding us eternally,

Until thou hast graced,

Upon this part of

Thine illusory creation.

Thou hast graced

Upon us the sleep,

Every night that we 'tend to

Unconsciously merging

Into thine eternity.

And thou art wake us up,

To get deluded again,

In thy drama eternal.

We would love to,

Get Awakened to,

The Truth eternal,

Rather than,

Lulled by thine,

Deceiving illusory Sleep.

Stop thy Seduction

With thine eternal illusion.

Delude us no more,

With thy creation.

Take us away from,

Thy Delusory creation, and

Merge us into thine,

Eternal Nothingness!

The Eternal Paradox!

The Eternal Paradox!

Thou art the Eternal Paradox,

In Night and Day. ––

Thou hast warned us,

In Dawn and Dusk.

Yet - we ignorant,

Could not understand,

Thine Eternal Paradox.

Thou art the Eternal Paradox,

In Birth and Death. ––

Thou hast warned us,

In the New Born and the Old,

Thou hast warned us,

In Sleep and wakefulness

Thou hast warned us,

In Heat and cold

Thou hast warned us,

In Health and Sickness,

Thou hast warned us,

In Joy and Sorrow,

Thou hast warned us,

In Friendship and animosity

Thou hast warned us,

In Meeting and parting

Thou hast warned us,

In Optimism and pessimism,

Thou hast warned us,

In White and black,

Thou hast warned us,

In crest and trough of a wave,

Thou hast warned us,

In Good and bad,

Thou hast warned us,

In Native and Alien,

Thou hast warned us,

In Near and Far,

Thou hast warned us,

In love and hatred,

Thou hast warned us,

In Now and Then,

Thou hast warned us in the Present,

About the Past and Future,

Thou hast warned us,

In Illusion and Delusion,

Yet - we ignorant,

Could not understand,

Thine Eternal Paradox.

Thou hast warned us,

Not to get attached

To thy Cosmic show,

Yet - we ignorant,

Got Entangled and Strangled.

Thou art the Eternal Paradox!

Thou hast created,

Thy show of Light and Shadows.

Yet - we ignorant,

Could not understand.

And further created havoc,

By our thoughts and actions,

Ignoring Thy Cosmic Design,

That thou hast weaved,

Harmoniously Eternal.

May I humbly ask Thee,

O Eternal Paradox!

To Bless us –– so that,

We no longer remain ignorant.

And understand,

Thine Eternal Paradox.

And instead of,

Weaving our patterns,

In Thine Eternal Design,

We do nothing –– accept, live,

And Merge back into,

Thine Eternal Design

O My Eternal Awareness!

O My Eternal Awareness!

O My Eternal Awareness!

Why am I not conscious,

Of your incessant Presence?

Why am I not with you,

Even though I am in you?

What are you?

And what is that Who,

That is questioning You?

If Thou art are Eternal,

How the Who is questioning you?

Is the Who part of you? Or

Apart from you?

In the Here and Now,

In There, and Then,

In Night and Day,

In Dawn and Dusk,

In Light and Shadows,

With every breath and breathless,

With every Life and Death,

In Stillness and Restlessness,

In Silence and Sound,

In Voice and Noise,

In Whisper and Hustle,

Thou art ever present,

Hiding ever.

In Mind and Matter,

In Feeling and Perception,

In Tangible and Intangible,

In Animate and Inanimate,

In Manifest and Unmanifest,

In unawareness and awareness,

In Intent and intensity,

In Focus and distraction,

In Power and powerless,

Thou art ever present,

Hiding ever.

Thou hast hidden from the seekers,

Thou hast hidden from the sought,

Thou hast hidden from everything,

Except for Thine Awareness itself.

Thou art playing the Cosmic Joke,

Of not making Thine Awareness,

Be aware of Thy presence.

Thou hast created,

Such a vast paradox.

O Eternal Awareness!

Thou art the great gambler,

None wins with Thee,

Until beaten to nothing.

O Eternal Awareness!

Bless that Awareness,

Present in this and that,

To become Nothing, and

To become aware of,

Thine Eternal Awareness.

In Thy blessed,

Final Moment,

The Awareness has,

Become aware of Itself.

Emptiness Dancing - 2

Emptiness Dancing -2

In this Moment,

Witness is witnessing,

This Moment.

As it is Witness,

There is,

No judgment,

No bias,

No prejudice,

Simply witnessing.

In the witnessing,

There is that Silence,

That Stillness,

Silent buzz of,

The Cosmic Sound,

Unheard by any, but

Heard by the Witness.

What can be shared?

Than the Eternal Stillness,

Than the Eternal Silence,

The effort has become Effortless.

That Silent Sound,

That Cosmic Sound.

Ears can't hear,

But heard by Witness.

Is it heard? or

Is it hearing?

Who is hearing?

Who is making that

Silent Sound.

The One without any

Is making that Sound.

And one without ears,

Is hearing that Sound.

The eyes are not seeing,

But the Silent Sound is heard.

It is not the dance of senses,

But it is the dance of Emptiness.

The Emptiness is Dancing.

The Awareness has,

Become aware of its Dance again.

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

Biologically Metamorphosis is explained as, where a caterpillar gets transformed into a butterfly after undergoing the pupa stage.

We as human beings for our evolution need to undergo a similar process of metamorphosis where our mindset has to undergo transformation. However, most of us anticipate to undergo the metamorphosis without undergoing the pupa stage or understanding the pupa stage. This is the stage where we need to look within, introspect and let go all that past and those identities that are preventing us from transforming into a butterfly or an evolved human being.

As most of us do not give enough time or understand appropriately the actual pupa stage, we get deluded of the transformation, and end up not letting go our past habits and tendencies completely. Even though we talk about transformation, we rarely change behaviorally. This is like we anticipate to become a butterfly, but in reality we are stuck in the caterpillar stage with wings on it which are of no use either to us or others. These wings make the noise of words, which even though talk about the beauty of the butterfly, but behaviorally exhibit that of the caterpillar behavior.

Hence change has to happen in our overall mindset rather than just an illusory transformation.

What is life and death?

What is life and death?

There is only One Life which transforms from one shape or form to another and simultaneously exists in all forms. The concept of "life and death" is an illusion created in a deluded thought. Because in reality or in Truth there is only Nothing that exists - only an eternal awareness in the absolute darkness of dark with thoughts projected in terms of light and shadows which is called as creation.

The manifested, the unmanifested and the vast empty space that holds, sustains and dissolves the manifested universe - everything is just a thought of that Eternal Life.

Enter this (realm),

Discard all that gained,

Let go all that acquired,

Enter the Sacred (realm),

Sacredly Naked.

Oh Sacred Life!

Thou alone exists.

Thy Sacred thought,

Appears as Universe,

For the deluded.

Oh Eternal Life!

Thy breath is the,

Stillness in the,

Eternal Silence.

Thy thought is the,

Eternal illusion that,

Deludes all Thy've thought.

Death is Thine Eternal,

Infinitesimally small,

Play of Light & Shadow,

That Thou hast created,

In Thy thought illusion.

Death is an illusion,

That Thou hast created,

In Thy thoughts,

To end all those acquired illusions,

In Thy creation of delusion.

One that understands Death,

Understands Life.

Thine Eternal Grace,

Bestowed alone understands,

None else.

For it's Thy thought illusion.

Thou hast created,

Illusion of Joy Eternal,

To live the illusory

Show of light & shadows.

When Thou end,

Thy show of light & shadows,

Illusion created in,

Deluded thought merges,

Into Eternal Nothingness!

The surge of thy,

Dazzling darkness streak

Still exists in thy creation,

Living Thine Eternal Life!

Oh Eternal Life!

Thou createst eternal Paradox,

In Thine illusory,

Show of light & shadows.

Bestow upon us,

The illusion of

Thine Eternal Grace,

To escape Thy delusion.

Pictorial Srimad Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 1, Verse 4 to 6

Pictorial Srimad Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 1, Verse 4 to 6

The various soul qualities are being described here in these 3 verses stating one should not fear and should utilize one's discriminative soul qualities.

1. Arjuna - अर्जुन: Self-Control
2. Bhīma - भीम: Life-Control
3. Yuyudhāna - युयुधान: Divine Devotion
4. Virāṭa - विराट: Samadhi
5. Dṛpada - दृपद: Extreme Dispassion
6. Dhṛṣṭaketu - धृष्टकेतु: Power of Mental Resistance
7. Cekitāna - चेकितान: Spiritual Memory
8. Kāśirāja - काशिराज: Discriminative Intelligence
9. Purujit - पुरुजित्: Mental Interiorization
10. Kuntibhoja - कुन्तिभोज: Right Posture
11. Śaibya - शैब्य: Power of Mental Adherence
12. Yudhāmanyu - युधामन्यु: Life-Force Control
13. Uttamaujas - उत्तमौजस्: Vital Celibacy
14. Abhimanyu - अभिमन्यु: Self-mastery
15. Upa Pāṇḍavaḥ - उप पाण्डवः: Manifested characteristics of the Five awakened Spinal Centers

अत्र शूरा महेष्वासा भीमार्जुनसमा युधि
युयुधानो विराटश्च द्रुपदश्च महारथ: || 1 - 4||

धृष्टकेतुश्चेकितान: काशिराजश्च वीर्यवान् |
पुरुजित्कुन्तिभोजश्च शैब्यश्च नरपुङ्गव: || 1 - 5||

युधामन्युश्च विक्रान्त उत्तमौजाश्च वीर्यवान् |
सौभद्रो द्रौपदेयाश्च सर्व एव महारथा: || 1 - 6||

atra śhūrā maheṣhvāsā bhīmārjuna-samā yudhi
yuyudhāno virāṭaśhcha drupadaśhcha mahā-rathaḥ
dhṛiṣhṭaketuśhchekitānaḥ kāśhirājaśhcha vīryavān
purujit kuntibhojaśhcha śhaibyaśhcha nara-puṅgavaḥ
yudhāmanyuśhcha vikrānta uttamaujāśhcha vīryavān
saubhadro draupadeyāśhcha sarva eva mahā-rathāḥ

అత్ర శూరా మహేష్వాసా భీమార్జునసమా యుధి ।
యుయుధానో విరాటశ్చ ద్రుపదశ్చ మహారథః ।। 4 ।।
ధృష్టకేతుశ్చేకితానః కాశీరాజశ్చ వీర్యవాన్ ।
పురుజిత్ కుంతిభోజశ్చ శైబ్యశ్చ నరపుంగవః ।। 5 ।।
యుధామన్యుశ్చ విక్రాంత ఉత్తమౌజాశ్చ వీర్యవాన్ ।
సౌభద్రో ద్రౌపదేయాశ్చ సర్వ ఏవ మహారథాః ।। 6 ।।

P.S: The spiritual characterization of all characters is based upon the book "God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita — A New Translation and Commentary" written by Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda and published by  Self-Realization Fellowship Copyright © 1999. 

Pictorial Srimad Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 1, Verse 3

Pictorial Srimad Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 1, Verse 3

The "Blind Mind - Dhritarashtra's" son "Material Desire - Duryodhana" is talking to "Habit Tendencies - Dronāchārya" stating: O “Habit - Dronāchārya!” See all “the army of good tendencies – Occult soldiers of Discrimination” that are protected by your old friend “Dhristadyumna” – the Calm Inner Light of Divine Perception”

• Dhritarāshtraधृतराष्ट्र - Blind Mind
• Duryodhana दुर्योधन - Material Desire
• Dronāchārya द्रोणाचार्य - Habit Tendencies/ Samskāra (संस्कार)
• Dhristadyumna दृष्टद्युम्न- Calm Inner Light of Divine Perception

पश्यैतां पाण्डुपुत्राणामाचार्य महतीं चमूम् ।

व्यूढां द्रुपदपुत्रेण तव शिष्येण धीमता ।।1 - 3।।

paśhyaitāṁ pāṇḍu-putrāṇām āchārya mahatīṁ chamūm

vyūḍhāṁ drupada-putreṇa tava śhiṣhyeṇa dhīmatā ।।1 - 3।।

పశ్యైతాం పాండుపుత్రాణామ్ ఆచార్య మహతీం చమూమ్ ।

వ్యూఢాం ద్రుపదపుత్రేణ తవ శిష్యేణ ధీమతా ।। 1 - 3 ।।

P.S: The spiritual characterization of all characters is based upon the book "God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita — A New Translation and Commentary" written by Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda and published by  Self-Realization Fellowship Copyright © 1999. 

Pictorial Srimad Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 1, Verse 2

Pictorial Srimad Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 1, Verse 2

The "Impartial Introspection" - Sanjaya is telling the "blind mind" - Dhritarāshtra; that its offspring "material desire" - Duryodhana is talking to its "habit tendencies" - Dronāchārya.

• Sanjaya सञ्जय - Impartial Introspection
• Dhritarāshtraधृतराष्ट्र - Blind Mind
• Duryodhana दुर्योधन - Material Desire
• Dronāchārya द्रोणाचार्य - Habit Tendencies/ Samskāra (संस्कार)

सञ्जय उवाच ।

दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवानीकं व्यूढं दुर्योधनस्तदा ।

आचार्यमुपसङ्गम्य राजा वचनमब्रवीत् ।। 2।।

sañjaya uvācha

dṛiṣhṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ vyūḍhaṁ duryodhanastadā

āchāryamupasaṅgamya rājā vachanamabravīt

సంజయ ఉవాచ ।

దృష్ట్వా తు పాండవానీకం వ్యూఢం దుర్యోధనస్తదా ।

ఆచార్యముపసంగమ్య రాజా వచనమబ్రవీత్ ।। 2 ।।

P.S: The spiritual characterization of all characters is based upon the book "God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita — A New Translation and Commentary" written by Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda and published by  Self-Realization Fellowship Copyright © 1999. 

Pictorial Srimad Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 1, Verse 1

Pictorial Srimad Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 1, Verse 1

Introduction

The Individual Self got Separated from the Universal Self

The struggle to unite and merge back into the Universal Self is called as the “Practice” or Sādhana साधन.

The process for how it can done is prescribed in Srimad Bhagavad Gita (श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता) in the form of a dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna.

Here Universal Self is symbolized as Sri Krishna and the Individual Self is symbolized as Arjuna

The conversation between the Universal Self and the Individual Self is Bhagavad Gita where the Universal Self advises Individual Self on how to get back and merge into the Universal Self.

The Art of Daily Introspection

धृतराष्ट्र उवाच |

धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः |

मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ||1||

dhṛitarāśhtra uvācha

dharma-kṣhetre kuru-kṣhetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ

māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāśhchaiva kimakurvata sañjaya

ధృతరాష్ట్ర ఉవాచ ।

ధర్మ క్షేత్రే కురుక్షేత్రే సమవేతా యుయుత్సవః ।

మామకాః పాండవాశ్చైవ కిమకుర్వత సంజయ ।। 1 ।।

Chapter 1, Verse 1 starts with a question where the blind mind Dhritarashtra धृतराष्ट्र asks the introspection Sanjaya सञ्जय on how the mind is behaving, and how it has behaved today. Hence, this exercise is an act of daily introspection where as human beings, we need to introspect and ask ourselves where our mind was focusing and where else it was wandering?

Hence, let us take an opportunity to introspect everyday probably before retiring to bed:

1. Where our mind was? 
2. What all it was thinking - both in terms of good and bad? 
3. What it tend to do through our bodies - both the good tendencies and the bad tendencies? 
4. What was the effect of those tendencies on our mind and our body?
5. Are we evolving as a human being and moving towards Truth or are we degrading?

P.S: The spiritual characterization of all characters is based upon the book "God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita — A New Translation and Commentary" written by Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda and published by  Self-Realization Fellowship Copyright © 1999. 

2D Psychology of Srimad Bhagavad Gita

The 2D Psychology of Srimad Bhagavad Gita

ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंस: सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते ।
सङ्गात्सञ्जायते काम: कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥ (62)

क्रोधाद्भवति सम्मोह: सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रम: ।
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति ॥ (63)

dhyāyato viṣayānpuṃsa: saṅgasteṣūpajāyate ।
saṅgātsañjāyate kāma: kāmātkrodho'bhijāyate ॥ (62)

krodhādbhavati sammoha: sammohātsmṛtivibhrama: ।
smṛtibhraṃśād buddhināśo buddhināśātpraṇaśyati ॥ (63)

ధ్యాయతో విషయాన్పుంస: సఙ్గస్తేషూపజాయతే ।
సఙ్గాత్సఞ్జాయతే కామ: కామాత్క్రోధోఽభిజాయతే ॥ (62)

క్రోధాద్భవతి సమ్మోహ: సమ్మోహాత్స్మృతివిభ్రమ: ।
స్మృతిభ్రంశాద్ బుద్ధినాశో బుద్ధినాశాత్ప్రణశ్యతి ॥ (63)

Brooding on sense objects causes attachment to them. Attachment breeds craving; craving breeds anger. Anger breeds delusion; delusion breeds loss of memory (of the Self). Loss of right memory causes decay of the discriminating faculty. From decay of discrimination, annihilation (of spiritual life) follows. - From "God Talks with Arjuna" by Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda.

So what the above verses/slokas are indicating is this. The discriminatory power of a human being is inversely proportional to the delusion that the human being has. Higher the delusion, lesser will be the discriminatory power and lesser is the delusion, higher will be the discriminatory power. 

The discrimination in sanskrit is called as viveka विवेक and the delusion is called as māya माय. Māya is the entanglement that we as human beings develop over a period of time because of myriad reasons and which deludes us from our true nature and makes us loose our discrimination विवेक so that we fail to identify the truth from untruth and continue to delude ourselves in pain and suffering. This loss of discrimination is what leads us to unhealthy practices whether in terms of eating, drinking, behavioral demonstrations, working, etc.

Our desires are either mostly self-driven or society driven and most of them would be society driven. When our desires are not fulfilled, we end up in frustration which leads to anger. This anger will further make us to lose our discrimination and after succumbing to the emotion of anger and losing discrimination we get biased, judgmental and lose our ability in recognizing the facts as facts, and perceive them with colored lenses. This colored perception will lead us to false decision making which often lead to disaster. 

Hence, we as human beings need to understand this and instead of stumbling down, we have to make an attempt to keep ourselves sane every moment and stay steadfastly on the path of Truth.

Practice or Sādhana साधन

Practice Sādhana साधन

What is Practice for a human being?

The practice of a human being has been so much corrupted in this modern world, that most of the times it is just placed on the surface of the materialistic world and if it goes deeper in some cases, it might go a little bit into the psychological realm and very rarely beyond that.

We also very intelligently try to bifurcate our life into different paths - materialistic or worldly path and spiritual path.

Now, if we genuinely and honestly ask a question - is there really something other than the spirit in this projected or manifested Cosmos and the un-projected or unmanifested cosmos? Then, the answer would be a bit startling which shows us that everything is spirit and the very famous Upanishad sentence says "सर्वं खल्विदम् ब्रह्म sarvaṃ khalvidam brahma" - everything is indeed Brahman! Hence, there is only one path and that is spiritual path. Just because we do not recognize the spirit in everything, it does not mean that it is not spiritual path. It is like - there is water in a jar and since you don't know what to call it as and you end up calling something else except water.

Most of the time (may be a 1000 life-times) for 99.9999% of human beings the practice is in the realm of mind and winning over, channelizing or regularizing it only. The rest 0.00001% will rarely go beyond the mind and when they go beyond the mind, then what? This is where the actual sādhana starts.

So, how long an individual can stay in the realms that are beyond the mind. Beyond the mind is beyond the thoughts. There is nothing, no identity. There is only a witness without any judgement or bias as there is no thought. It might appear like a zombie for the external world. This is where the most challenging aspect comes for the seer or practitioner or sādhak.

• When there is nothing except being a witness and the witnessing part, what is going to happen? 
• How long one is going to stay as a witness? For 1000 years or 10,000 years or a billion years?
• What is there in the witnessing and what is there in the witness?
• What is the significance of time or is there any significance of time in this state?
• If in this state a thought comes and if the witness gets entangled in the thought ,does the witness take birth again?
• And, if the witness does not get entangled in the thought, but continue to be a witness for how long this act will continue?
• What is there beyond the witness state?
• What is there beyond the nothingness state?
• Is the creation happening from this witness state or from this nothingness state just because there is an entanglement towards a thought?
• If so from where the thought is getting originated? Is it also being originated from the nothingness?

If so, then there is only nothingness, nothingness is coming out from nothingness and nothingness is merging into nothingness. What we see, perceive, and feel is a variation of that nothingness in the form of a wave and sometimes we are on the crest and sometimes we dive into the trough.

• So, who are we?
• Do we really exist?
• Does anything really exist?
• Or everything is just only a thought?

Thought coming from nothingness and merging back into nothingness!
It is that awareness, which is letting you to become aware of that awareness!

The Question,

Questioner,

Answer

And

The Answerer

Is All

One

Can I Live with Myself? Part 7 & Conclusion.

- contd from Part 6

The Burden of Choice

One day when I went to buy grocery in a grocery shop that is located in one of the Asia's largest mall, I stepped into the food section and was first amazed to see the list of varieties arranged in glaze packages - aisle after aisle with all kinds of things right from pasta, noodles, chips, etc, etc., extending to 10 aisles arranged on either side with 5 shelved, 6 racks. Each shelf has further a choice of 10 varieties of products. Thus, in total I have a choice of 10 x 5 x 6 x 20 = 6000 varieties to chose from to buy my grocery. I tried to do a little bit of statistics over there in looking at the possibilities of cooking a dish for a cook and ended up with an undefined value. For a while I was startled and my brain went into a freeze mode.

Next I walked into aisles of toiletries and detergents section and felt as if I am in a chemical factory and my mind questioned me - "is it really necessary to use so many different chemicals to keep yourself and your clothes clean and aromatic?" I was silent and could not answer my mind. Another question came from my mind as if Mother Earth is asking me - "do you know how many chemicals you are using and throwing onto land and polluting me?" Again, for the first time, I felt ashamed of being a human being and polluting the Mother Earth so much.

Later, instead of buying what I went for, I just bought about 4 items and left that which was more of a big chemical factory rather than a shop.

Simplicity is the key

Later after coming home, I started my research on how to live more nature friendly and less dependent on chemicals as much as possible. To my surprise, I could find many methods and highly nature friendly which slowly I started adopting in my life and slowly started convincing my partner who has agreed and started cooperating in most of the ways.

One of the outcomes of my learning was where I self reflected upon my way of living and started looking at the ways of Indian Rishis lived in ancient India. For them everything has to come from nature, least processed and has to go back to nature for its natural degradation.

How many choices we make in a day of 24 hours and how many of those choices we choose really wisely with a calm mind and do not regret in future is a very big question, and I don't think we get an affirmative answer for it. How many choices we make for our physical well-being and our mental well-being? And among those that we make, do they really promise our well-being both on physical and mental realms? Since, we were not able to choose wisely based upon the plethora of choices that were thrown in front of us by all kinds of marketing people, we ended up in a big confusion. Hence, the result is a more disturbed, stressful and highly complicated life which we are living as if there is no choice.

So it is high time we simplify our external life. Because if we don't simplify our external life and the choices that they are going to lure us with, we cannot and will not be able to take out some time to look within and reflect for the eternal Truth that is lying always within us, which is ready to show up and bless us eternally.

INTROSPECTION

Introspection means looking within. When we look into a mirror, it will tell us how we are physically - our physical body, the color of skin, the dress that we are wearing-how much well fitted they are, etc. Similarly when we introspect and look into our internal mirror and observe our reflection of self, then it will tell us how we have behaved, how much our actions were ego based and non-ego based, how much our actions with love and how many were with hatred and whether we are really living happy or not. The process of self-reflection will also enable to mend our ways so that we can take all those measures that enhance our overall well-being.

A proper introspection will provide us a detailed analysis of our various emotions that we are going through. The emotions are nothing but the extent or the intensity of our entanglement towards a particular phenomena or an incident or a perception that we have perceived through our senses and used our intellect to decipher that perception in the way our ego has directed it to understand. An unbiased and unprejudiced introspection will let us disentangle ourselves from all of our emotions. In this way we can become free from all entanglements. As each emotion also has it own effect on our physical bodies, by understanding and disentangling ourselves from our emotions we can also enhance our overall well-being.

One of the most important aspect of life that helps us in introspection is silence. While the process of introspection is happening it is always advisable to be in a safe and silent environment. We can also introspect in a busy street, or a busy cafe or may be in a local transport also. However, when we do this we may not be so much cognizant about the physiological changes that are happening within ourselves. And the physiological changes does influence to some extent on our introspection and the reverse also. Any psychological change will also influence our physiology. When this introspection is performed extensively with the help of some kind of breathing techniques or the scientific meditative techniques as mentioned in Vijnana Bhairava Tantra विज्ञान भैरव तन्त्र and merge into the meditative silence, then we can as well cauterize all of our innate habits or entanglements that which we have developed in this or from previous lives. Even one technique among the 112 available from this when practiced properly can lead us to liberation and freedom.

Most of us when we try to introspect and make an attempt to question ourselves, our behavior and the aspects that might be causing us pain, we do it on the surface and may not dive deeper. This is one of the reasons why we do not change much in our external behaviors or we do not change our habits. To change internally, we need to question why a particular activity is being done by us. Are we trying not to accept something in our lives and trying to mask it with something else? Because, as long as we are trying to mask consciously or unconsciously i.e., knowingly or unknowingly then we would never be able to truly change ourselves and we continue to suffer. Hence, our introspection has to be deeper and excavating so that we understand what exactly we are craving for in our lives and why? This will enable us to clearly see - what is there underlying? - which could be unfulfilled craving, need, want or desire. When we question this - in a way that:

• do we really need to have it?
• are we ready and prepared ourselves for the consequences it is going to result in - in terms of short term and long term? 

Then probably we may forego all those cravings, needs, wants, desires as they are not really going to enhance our overall well-being. Sometimes the knots in the psyche could be very deeper and they get freed only by excavating questioning and a highly unbiased, unprejudiced, non-judgmental introspection. As long as we do not free our deep seated knots, we cannot be free and cannot have our overall well-being. We have to let go all our masks, strip our psyche so naked and make it so transparent that it can transmit the Divine light and wisdom.

Another aspect of introspection can be in a way on questioning ourselves, as how we would like to remember ourselves? What is that identity that we would like to be identified with? What is that emotion that we would like to be in 99.999999% of the time? What actually we need from life? These questions will also reveal to us the reality of life and the priorities that we should be choosing at appropriate times in various stages of life.

If we have to introduce ourselves to someone are we going to introduce ourselves with a position, a designation, bank balance, social status - what? And, are these positions, designations, social status, bank balances really describe us as a human being? Or do they provide us masks that we have inadvertently created to hide the Truth so that we can live a life full of lies? How many times can we introduce ourselves truly that I am a human being or I am a Spirit living in this human body? Do we have that awareness? Have we made any attempts to create that awareness within us? Did we create that kind of environment within us and around us so that we can become aware of ? Are we creating such kind of environment so that our future generations can become aware of what the Truth is?

We cannot live with ourselves until and unless we get rid of our attachments and aversions towards the external world and the worldly objects. This can be done by cultivating dispassion towards all the unnecessary necessities.

Sage Patanjali mentions in his Yoga Sutras:
dṛṣṭānuśravikaviṣayavitṛṣṇasya vaśīkārasaṃjñā vairāgyam ॥ 1.15॥
दृष्टानुश्रविकविषयवितृष्णस्य वशीकारसंज्ञा वैराग्यम् ॥ १.१५॥
tatparaṃ puruṣakhyāterguṇavaitṛṣṇyam ॥ 1.16॥
तत्परं पुरुषख्यातेर्गुणवैतृष्ण्यम् ॥ १.१६॥

Dispassion cultivated and developed over a period of time will not only enable us to be detached, it will also enable us to go beyond the three attributes of nature (sattva, rajas and tamas), thus allowing us to become free from all entanglements to reach our real home of the Truth.

Introspection (antardarshana अन्तर्दर्शन ) along with study of Self (svādhyāya स्वाध्याय) will definitely lead us to the Truth.

Hence, it is the right time to wake up from our dreams of living the lies that society has impinged upon us. - Enough of it. Let us look into ourselves.

CONCLUSION

Hence, when we look into this process of life, introspect deep enough, we will understand clearly how much we got distracted from our true purpose of life and instead of actually living life and enjoying the life that is so much thriving within us, we make ourselves vulnerable to enter into a maze of mess of choices, things and what not all kinds of unnecessary necessities.

So, it is high time, we take a break from this nonsensical routine and instead of succumbing to the external non-meaningful temptations and end in messing up our lives further, we take the reins into our hands and walk the path of Truth with dignity, integrity, honesty, and Love Alone. Because, when I can live with Myself, I can live with any other self. Because every other thing, every other one is my own Self.

When we adapt the meditative or mindfulness practices they will give us the following benefits:

• to be less reactive and be more responsive
• to be more detached and be more loving
• to be less noisy and be more calm
• to be less complicated and be more clear
• to be less confused and to have a better clarity in everything
• to be less attached to things and to be more loving to life (whether in humans or any other animals)
• to live more a life that which is available as a blessing for us than just being an automaton.
• moderation in everything

There are few verses in Bhagavad Gita which emphasize on moderation. We will look at two verses from Chapter 6.

नात्यश्नतस्तु योगोऽस्ति न चैकान्तमनश्नत: |

न चाति स्वप्नशीलस्य जाग्रतो नैव चार्जुन || 16||

nātyaśhnatastu yogo ’sti na chaikāntamanaśhnataḥ |

na chāti-svapnaśhīlasya jāgrato naiva chārjuna || 16||

O Arjuna! those who eat too much or eat too little, sleep too much or too little, cannot attain success in Yoga.

युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु |

युक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्य योगो भवति दु:खहा || 17||

yuktāhāra-vihārasya yukta-cheṣhṭasya karmasu|

yuktasvapnāvabodhasya yogo bhavati duḥkhahā || 17||

He who is temperate in his habits of eating, sleeping, working and recreation can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.

Hence, let us take some time and reflect upon our true selves and then adapt: 

• a mode and way of conservation in everything instead of being on the spree of consumption; and 
• moderation in all of our day-to-day activities.

4 Approaches Towards Practice of Presence of Mind

The way I look at life is to have 4 approaches where we can practice the presence of mind and be conscious of every moment and maneuver ourselves in leading towards a more meaningful and harmonious life.

These are:

1. Having a regular morning and evening schedule for some structured Meditation or Mindfulness practices which inculcates self-discipline (anuśāsanam अनुशासनम् in Sage Patanjali's terms) into our life. 
2. Practicing presence of mind in daily activities by stealing some moments amidst of daily activities and focus on breath and just observing what is happening without the interference of ego or having without any identity. Just being a witness on the three - gross, subtle and causal realms.
3. Becoming a Witness towards all life's activities. Being in the world and not of it. Having a complete awareness of all life's activities while actively participating and acting with detachment on the three - gross, subtle and causal realms.
4. Contemplating and introspecting at the end of the day just a few moments before retiring to sleep on the day's activities and having an unbiased, unprejudiced, non-judgmental outlook on how we have behaved through out the day on the three - gross, subtle and causal realms, and accordingly amend and improvise for future to have a more meaningful, enhanced and harmonious life.

One of the ways of turning the outgoing mind inward is to remember this verse from Vivekacūḍāmaṇi विवेकचूडामणि written by Sri Adishankarāchārya:

लोकानुवर्तनं त्यक्त्वा त्यक्त्वा देहानुवर्तनम् ।

शास्त्रानुवर्तनं त्यक्त्वा स्वाध्यासापनयं कुरु ॥ २७०॥

lokānuvartanaṃ tyaktvā tyaktvā dehānuvartanam ।

śāstrānuvartanaṃ tyaktvā svādhyāsāpanayaṃ kuru ॥ 270॥

Control, resist yourselves and renounce your involvement regarding the various ways of the world,  give up regarding too much grooming about the body, leave aside unnecessarily pursuing the scriptures, and finally banish the superimposition which has crept up on your True Self. 

Thus leaving aside all the lies that the world like to superimpose upon us let us make an attempt to anchor ourselves in our True Self.

Let us understand the life that is thriving within us and around us. Let us live the Life that is our life and not someone else's lie.

Because, when we live our life truly we can support the life in everything else, and enhance the well-being, and the life itself thriving in everything.