Hearing Thee

Hearing Thee

Hearing Thy Throb in the Heart,
Entered the realm of Silence and Stillness.
And lost in hearing Thee.

Neither the I nor You existed
Existed only Silence and Stillness
All existed as Nothing and One.

Dancing in Silence

Dancing in Silence

Entering the realm of stillness,
Beyond mind,
Hugging Thee in the Heart,
Whilst the eyes closed,
The Eternal Eye seeing all,
World knowing naught
Me dancing in Silence,
As You dance within me.

Sourcing Love

Sourcing Love

Looking deep within

Realizing the transiency of the person

Finding the one sans personality

Sourcing the source of Love

Merged and lost.

Joyous Living

 Joyous Living

Diving deep within,
Reflecting on the Self through self,
Realizing the triviality and transiency of the external world,
Entering the realm beyond mind,
Seeing through and through, sans physical eye,
The eternal beauty of Silence and Stillness.

Awakening

Awakening

What is awakening? Is it possible that someone or something gets awakened?

Awareness is omnipresent and is present eternally. When this Awareness itself becomes aware of its presence and acknowledged in any physical entity it can be called as Awakening.

It is not that the physical entity is awakened, but the awareness present in that physical entity is acknowledging the presence of the awareness in that physical entity.

The physical entity can be from the measurable smallest particle Quanta,... through the sub-atomic particles, atomic particles like electron so on... through different animal species right from bacteria,... fish, pig, horse, tiger, etc., through a human being, ... meteors, planets, stars, myriad stellar bodies, etc., the emptiness, the nothingness... - it could be any. In all of these the awareness is present and is being acknowledged by the awareness itself by that Eternal Grace.

The Omnipresent Awareness,
Has become aware of its eternal presence,
And is acknowledged by Itself.

The Awareness itself is awakened,
To acknowledge its omnipresence.

I am Pure

I am Pure!

I came from Purity,
I came from Joy,
I came from Eternity.

Entering the world,
my Purity got tainted with identities,
Entering the world,
 my Joy got tainted with desires,
Entering the world,
my Eternity got tainted with boundaries of greed.

Letting go my identities,
and staying Be;
Letting go my desires;
and staying Be;
Letting go all boundaries of greed;
and staying Be;
I have become aware of
The Eternal presence of Purity.
And getting awakened in Purity.
I realized that I am Pure.

Energy and Bliss

 Energy and Bliss

Energy in motion is emotion
Energy in stillness is Bliss.

Root of the Energy is Consciousness.
Root of Consciousness is Stillness.
Root of Stillness is Nothingness.
Root of Nothingness is Eternal Awareness.

The Known and Unknown

The Known and Unknown

The Known and the Unknown

Senses sensed the Known,
Mind conveyed the Known,
Neither the senses nor the mind,
could sense or convey the Unknown.

From where the Known has originated?
How the Known is made knowable?
Is there something Knowable and Unknowable?
Does the Unknowable knows all the Knowable?
Can the Unknowable be known by the Knowable?
Or is the Unknowable origin of Known, and Knowable?
How to reach the Unknowable through the Knowable?
While everything is unknown by the Known,
how can it be called as Knowable?

While the Known is sensed by the senses and conveyed by the mind,
The Unknown is neither sensed by the senses nor conveyed by the mind.
If Unknown is the origin of the Known,
then the Unknown cannot be known by staying in the Known.
The Unknown can be known only by going beyond the Known.

Breath is bridge between the Known and the Unknown.
Going beyond breath through breath the Unknown is reached.
Reaching the Unknown, the Unknowable is known.
Knowing the Unknowable,
the Known, Knower and the Knowable became Unknowable.

Transient World

Transient World

Everything in this world is transient.
Anything that comes will go one day.
Birth happens to change into death one day,
Pain comes to change into pleasure one day,
Pleasure comes to change into pain one day,
Health comes to change into sickness one day,
Sickness comes to change into health one day,
Death comes to change into birth one day.
Every state, phase and stage is transient,
Everything in this world is transient.

Become Motionless, Become Thoughtless

 Become Motionless, Become Thoughtless

Breathing naturally in-and-out,
In the moments of breath ceasing its flow in-and-out,
In the moments of thoughts reducing their flow in-and-out,
Body tending to become motionless,
Mind tending to become thoughtless.

As the seeker dies,
The Awareness rises,
Laughing at the delusion of the seeker,
Only to show its constant presence,
And the seeker, seeking and sought,
Becoming One,
Delusion ceases.

Thoughts, motion no longer bothering,
Becoming motionless and thoughtless effortlessly,
Enjoying the bliss ever after.

I am not the role

I am not the role

Playing myriad roles over and over,
got identified and entangled again and again.
Couldn't even realize that it is just a role,
Couldn't even think for a little while that it is just a role.
Over and over suffered again and again,
By getting entangled with the role.

Entangling with myriad roles, I created own rules,
Forgetting and foregoing Creator's Rules.
Suffered through incessantly,
Unerringly stepping into biases,
endless futile discussions, gossips,
prejudices, judgments, arguments, altercations,
Losing peace, health, happiness and joy.

Every entanglement separated Being from Meing,
To throw into the tantrums of the worldly life,
To tease, tickle and beaten till the Me kneeled,
Either in despair or in devotion,
To surrender willingly to that eternal Director,
Creator, Organizer, Coordinator, and Dissolver,
Only to show that every act is just a role,
To be played and not to get entangled;
To entertain and not to get entertained;
Until the player realized and
Entangled with the Director rather than the role.

Player playing the role to the Director's satisfaction,
To realize not the role-player, but a part of Creator,
Is Blessed and freed from all the roles,
Not to play again on Life's stage,
to merge into Eternal Nothingness.

Meing to Being

Meing to Being

The Me while playing
myriad roles in this life,
got identified and entangled.
The Be played
myriad roles in myriad lives
without identification and entanglement.

Pain and pleasure, Blame and praise,
All dualities existed in the Meing.

By letting go the dualities of relativistic world,
Entered the realm of non-dualistic world,
To live and exist in the Being state.

The state of Being sans Me,
The state of Meing sans Be.

The Me and the Be,
Moving from Meing to Being,
Life's journey continuing,
To live, enter into and
Finally to become Nothing.

Inner Silence

 Inner Silence

Not believing in the mind,
Stepped into a realm beyond mind.

Not believing in fear of losing identity,
Stepped into a realm beyond identities.

Not believing in the noise and chaos of world,
Stepped into a realm of silence and simplicity.

Letting go the external noise,
Stepped into a realm of inner silence.

Letting go the dualities of world,
Stepped into a realm of Oneness.

Stepping into Oneness,
Doubt, belief, question,
questioner, answer
Disappeared into oblivion, and
Entered the realm of Nothingness.

Letting Him In

 Letting Him In

Meditating alone,
Wanted Him to come in.
He answered,
I will come in when you go out.

Stepped out... to see in awe,
The Beloved, Lover, Love,
all became One.
He was always in,
Deluded was I as "I" existed.

Letting me go out, and
Letting Him in.
Journey of Life,
Life's learning,
All completed.

Acquired everything in delusion
To learn that only Nothing exists.
Had to unlearn all learning,
To become aware of Nothingness.

Letting me go out, and Letting Him in.
Awareness became aware of Nothingness.

Listening

Listening

Made an attempt to listen to self,
Kept away all prejudices, biases and judgments,
Entered the silence and stillness to see,
The reflection of Self.
Couldn't see clearly and listen,
As the clinging's persisted,
Biases, opinions, judgments existed. 

Made an attempt again to listen to self,
This time started with listening to nature,
The gentle swish of leaves, soft squeaks of branches,
Coos of dove, chirps of birds, buzz of bees,
hum of the breeze, song of the tweets, 
my inclinations, impulses, ideas,
opinions, prejudices, biases,
All taking a backstage,
Could listen to creation.

Made an attempt again to listen to self,
This time started with my own breath,
The gentle "hum-sa" sound of breath,
The gentle chirp of cricket, all within,
Entered into a realm of stillness and silence,
All clinging's being gone into oblivion,
Saw the True Self in the self,
Awed by the splendour and amazement,
Became speechless, wordless, emotionless,
And finally merged into Nothingness.

Two sides of same coin

Two sides of same coin

Birth and death,
Day and night,
Health and sickness,
Praise and blame,
Pride and modesty,
Affluence and poverty,
Gain and loss,
Pleasure and pain,
Are two sides of the same coin.
While the ignorant indulges in either one,
creating myriad identities,
The wise indulges in none,
letting go all identities.

Walking on any one side,
Ends the journey one day,
And make us to walk on the other side,
Without any choice.
Better to walk on the rim of the coin,
And be not attached to any side.

The duality exists in the relativistic world,
To teach us that everything is transient.
The Creator coded this way the creation,
So that the creation can merge back into Creator. 
Escaping the duality, we escape the relativity,
And escape the transience,
To become the eternal One.
 

Silent brook

 Silent brook

Walking along a silent lane,
Walking along a silent brook,
Walking amidst fully blossomed spring trees,
Step-by-step feeling the silence and stillness,
Amidst the rustle of leaves and bustle of flowers,
Even though mind feeling the narrowness of the lane space,
Heart feeling the beauty and vastness of Cosmos,
Romancing with the unruffled, non-chaotic beauty of the silence,
Entering and enjoying the blissful state of stillness.

Identity stepping aside, narrowness disappearing,
prejudices, biases, judgments into oblivion,
Heart feeling the presence of vastness;
As revealed and projected onto
the empty screen of thoughtless state;
The silence and stillness,
Merging with I, You, That, This,
Everything and Everywhere,
To reveal the eternal presence of Nothingness.

Breathing Consciously

 Breathing Consciously

I was breathing unconsciously,
I halted and turned my attention to my breath,
In a little while, I am breathing consciously.

The breath entered in through the nostrils,
down the trachea, lungs, stomach, abdomen,
body gently moving along with the flow of breath,
I becoming conscious of the breath and the body,
able to witness the breath and body as something separate.

Breath again moved and I witnessed consciously,
Suddenly breath halted - stilled into the stillness consciously,
Suddenly there was silence - merged into the silence consciously,
Breath flow halted, body movement halted - witnessed everything consciously.

Suddenly everything turned into Nothing,
Consciousness turned into Nothingness.

* * *

Sod of Silence

 Sod of Silence

Thou hast shown me Thy path of interiorization,
And, I lost the path of outwardness, to travel inward.

Thou hast made me to touch Thy sod of silence,
And I lost all vocabulary to describe Thee.

Thou hast made me to touch Thy sod of stillness,
And I lost all identities, to identify with Nothingness.

Thou hast covered my face with Thy sacred garment of Omnipresence,
And I lost all my veils of illusion, to be in Thy presence.

Thou hast allowed me to enter Thy Sanctum Sanctorum,
And I lost the path to wilderness, to trod on Thy path of Eternity.

Thou hast allowed me to enter Thine Eternal realm of Superconsciousness,
And I lost all my consciousness, to be in Thine Eternal realm of Nothingness.

Thou hast blessed Thy child,
to stay in Thine Eternity,
And this child of Thine lost everything,
to gain Thine Eternal Nothingness,
And to stay eternally blessed.

Who is 'Who' and What is 'What'?

 Who is 'Who' and What is 'What'?

Who is 'Who' and What is 'What'?
'Who' is made up of thoughts;
'What' is made up of
unique combination of 5 elements of nature
which are again made up of thoughts by 'Who.'

As long as there was pleasure and merry,
'Who' enjoyed every bit of 'What',
And never questioned anything and anyone.
The moment pain, sickness came,
'Who' started blaming 'What' and its composition.

'What' retaliated stating,
"I can't be blamed."
It is you who created the 'What' with your own thoughts.
I just materialized based upon your thoughts.
And, it is my job, to go back into from where I have come.

'What' further stated, 
before creating I have warned you
About every consequence.

As long as there was pleasure and merry,
you enjoyed it.
Why do you cry and weep?
when everything created has to dissolve back.

'Who' got entangled and forgot that the
'What' is its own creation.
And everything that is created has to be dissolved.

Finally in self-reflection, stillness and silence,
'Who' realized its mistake,
And could see that,
Not only the 'What', even 'Who' 
is made up of only thoughts.
The moment this was realized,
Both 'Who' and 'What'
Dissolved into Nothingness,

And Nothingness ever remained as Nothingness,
Always ready to create another 'Who' and 'What'
Waiting for thought.

What is Maya or Illusion?

What is Māyā (माया) or Illusion?

Introduction

Whenever we perceive something (about an object or about a person) we try to perceive in two ways and generally a combination of these two perceptions is considered to be a human perception. First one is the sensory perception (received through any one or combination of 5 senses/sense organs), while the second one is cognitive perception which is based upon the extent of the intellectual information an individual has about an object or a person.

This leads to an equation:

Human Perception = Sensory Perception + Cognitive Perception

Analogy 1:

Let us consider an analogy where an individual sees an object E.g., refrigerator. As far as sensory perception of that individual is considered regarding the refrigerator, it would be based upon the physical dimensions, color etc. When it comes to the cognitive perception of that individual, it depends upon the extent of the intellectual information that individual possesses about the refrigerator. A mechanical engineer will have a different cognitive perception from that of an electronic engineer for the same refrigerator. A simple home maker who uses the same refrigerator might have a completely different cognitive perception. This means, even though we all see the same object (s), the way we perceive about it would be different based upon the intellectual information we as an individual possess about those object (s). This is like four blind men who touch a portion of an elephant and develops different cognitive perceptions about the same elephant. One blind man who touches the ear says that the elephant is like a big fan, the other who touches its legs says that the elephant is having four pillars, the other who touches the tail says it is like a thin rope, while the last one who touches the trunk says that the elephant is like a long and thick rope. Now if we look at their individual perceptions, they are right in their own perceptions, but it is not true - why? - because it is not complete. Their understanding or perception of a portion of an elephant is true to them, but a person who can see the elephant completely 3-dimensionally in all the 360 degrees will say that the perception of these blind men is half true which also means half lie and their individual or collective perceptions will not really describe the whole elephant. This means the perceptions of all the blind men are in reality deceptions.

Extending this analogy to our daily perceptions and self reflecting upon our cognitive perceptions, we can arrive at a conclusion that all of our perceptions are half true which also means they are half life. This means all of our daily cognitive perceptions are actually deceptions, because we use different lenses/shades to see objects or to understand people. Thus, every perspective is deceptive. It is never complete and true.

Hence, our revised equation would be:

Human Perception = Sensory Perception + Combination of Deceptions

With the above understanding and revelation we should come to a realization that it is futile to argue on any aspect as all of our perceptions are in reality not complete or 100%. However, we think and believe that what ever we are perceiving is true - and this belief is an illusion or māyā. In reality every thought process of ours is so limited. This is one reason we always need to have diverse group or group of individuals from different backgrounds who can think differently and contribute their perceptions, so that as a group one can arrive at a bigger perception of any aspect. Even then the group's perception will not be complete and one need to be aware of this.

Analogy 2:

When we go to a movie theater, there are mainly two things: one is the empty screen and the second is the movie projected onto the empty screen. The screen is real, while the movie is not real and it is nothing but a dance of light and shadows. The movie even though appears real, is not real. It is made into different effects of lights and shadows based upon the thought process. However tangible the movie appears, it is still a thought. The reader reading this article might think that this article is real and tangible, but in reality it was just only a thought in the author's mind and projected onto this screen with the help of lights and shadows. If we look at this analogy a little bit deeper, we can realize that this life is like the empty screen - unchanged, and on this life screen, births and deaths through various stages of infancy, childhood, adolescence, middle age, old age are happening as a dance of lights and shadows. We play many roles - father, mother, uncle, son, daughter, grandfather, grandmother, boss, subordinate, manager, CxO, husband, wife, sister, brother, student, teacher, etc., and it is wise and prudent that we realize that these are only roles and not to get identified with any of those roles - for one simple reason that all these roles are nothing but a dance of light and shadows and exist within us only as thoughts. When we are in deep sleep state where no thoughts exist, none of these roles exist.

As a being human, we need to just play many of these roles without any attachment and anchor ourselves always onto the screen rather than the movie - that is anchor ourselves beyond any of the roles - onto our true self which is that eternal stillness and Nothingness. While anchoring ourselves in Self-awareness, we can observe our body and mind as a third person and be not attached to our roles. The moment we are undergoing pain and pleasure, then we are tied up to our roles. The best way is to be always in our Self-awareness and being completely mindful of what is being done through our bodies and what is being thought through our minds.

Scientists say that human beings are negatively wired because of the threat to life and a very strong tendency to protect. In reality each and every one of us have two forces - the one which takes us outward and create boundaries, the other which interiorizes us and provides a chance to expand as big as the Universe. The force that takes us outward and creates boundaries is an illusion and the force that interiorizes us and tells us that we are boundless is the Truth.

Mechanism/Technique

How to overcome illusion or māyā?

1. Staying with whatever perception that we perceive and being in an awareness and acceptance that our perception is not complete and is deceptive.
2. Going beyond the deceptive perception and having a 360 degrees 3-dimensional view of every aspect.
3. Being completely Self-aware

To arrive at the second aspect, one need to understand what is meant by going beyond the sensory perception and cognitive perceptions. This can happen only when we withdraw our senses from all external objects which sage Patanjali called it as pratyāhāra प्रत्याहार. Once we withdraw all of our senses from external worldly objects and by some breathing technique can still the breath, then we can - may be for a moment - reach the stillness, thoughtless state. This is the state where we would be able to see everything as is without any shades/lenses. A long practice of the above practices and a longer duration of stillness and breathless states will result in another realm of perception which is called as intuitive perception. Please do not mistake this intuitive perception with gut instinct. Generally it takes 10 to 15 years of strong practice of mindfulness/meditative practices to cultivate intuitive perception.

Thus our final revised equation would be:

Human Perception = Sensory Perception + Cognitive Perception (Combination of Deceptions) + Intuitive Perception

Conclusion

Living in this world was never easy to anyone. Somewhere there would be difficulties. Neither everything will be bad, nor everything will be good. Good and bad co-exist. The creation itself is based on dualities and everything in the creation is relativistic. There is nothing absolute or permanent about the creation. There is nothing permanent about nature's phenomenon. It is highly dynamic and keeps constantly changing. It is up to us what are those choices that we need to make and for every choice that we make there will be consequences which inevitably we need to reap them and face them.

There is a story where two boys were participating in a competition. The task in the competition was to eat 50 bananas. Out of 50 bananas 25 were raw bananas and 25 were adequately ripened. Since the task was to complete both the varieties, one boy first made a choice to eat the adequately ripened bananas, while the other boy made a choice of eating the raw bananas first. Both boys could not complete the task. By the time they ate 15 bananas their stomachs were full and could not eat even one banana more. The boy who ate first the adequately ripened bananas was having full energy and could continue his day with full vigor and strength while the boy who ate raw bananas had to suffer indigestion and had to take medicine to cure himself from the stomachache that he got.

The above story illustrates that we all have choices to make in this relativistic world. Among the variety of choices - what are those choices that we make depends upon our awareness. An awareness of the Truth will make us to see the different choices available with a different perspective. The way we see and perceive the world is always different. The external world is made up of five elements of nature (earth, water, fire, air and ether). Whenever we see an object or aspect, we can never understand or perceive the complete composition of any object or aspect. With our limited intellectuality, we create labels and boundaries to our comprehension. In reality, our sensory perception is limited and our cognitive perception is also limited. With these limitations, we are not in a position to grasp the Truth as the Truth is beyond all these deceptive perceptions of the relativistic world. Any individual who makes an effort to think beyond the relativistic world and attempts to see beyond the thought process would enter into a state of awareness from where the Truth can be felt and the relativistic world can be witnessed.

Living in the Truth, we comprehend the reality of the relativistic world completely from a different perspective. Living in reality of the relativistic world, we can never grasp the Truth. Because, the reality of the relativistic world is always an illusion - it is never 100% true. It is always partially true, which also means it is partially a lie also. By the time we have expressed any relativistic phenomenon, it has already changed. It no longer exists the same, which also means - the one that we have expressed as our partial perception has occurred somewhere in past and is no longer current or is happening in the present. It is always advisable to stay beyond the perceptions to truly understand and perceive everything of the world and at the same time not to be in the world. In this way we can overcome every illusion that is created by us or our thought processes. To stay in the awareness of the Truth is what the purpose of a human being is. When we stay in that state, then we are no longer bound by the duality of the external world or illusion or māyā. A true state of Intelligence is this state. Upanishad states this state as prajñānaṃ brahma प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्म. Brahman is the Intelligence. In the relativistic world, we all are only intellectual and never intelligent enough. With so-called transactions of intellectual conversations, we consider ourselves as intelligent which is an illusion. We rarely think about the limitations of our so-called deceptive perceptions. The only way to overcome all this is go deeper and go beyond the breath.

When we observe further at a deeper level, through long continuous practices of meditative techniques we can also come to an awareness that breath is the one, which is actually bridging the inner realm or the astral realm with the outer physical world or realm. Hence, by going beyond the breath we enter a realm of stillness, go beyond the deceptive perceptions, and can overcome the illusion of our perceptions or māyā. Being still, we can become the witness to the relativistic world and witness it 360 degrees 3-dimensionally without being bound or influenced by it. Being still, we know and become the Truth, which is beyond every illusion. Stillness is the one, which will take us beyond all perceptions, deceptions and comprehensions. Stillness is the one, which reveals the eternal presence of the Truth. Be Still and Know.

When Thine Air is Stilled

 When Thine Air is Stilled

When Thine air is stilled,
Thine everything is stilled.

Observing the bodily motion getting stilled,
Thy flow of breath is stilled.

Observing the flow of breath getting stilled,
Thy thought process is stilled.

Observing the thought process getting stilled.
Thy vital airs (prāṇa प्राण) is stilled.

Observing the vital airs (prāṇa प्राण) getting stilled,
Thine everything is stilled.

Observing the stillness getting stilled,
Thy whole creation is stilled.

Observing the creation getting stilled,
Mine and Thine - everything is stilled.

When Mine and Thine - everything is stilled,
The stillness melted into Eternal Nothingness,
And even the Eternal Nothingness is stilled,
Every-thing and No-thing - all is stilled.

While the Stillness is stilled,
There is no that and this,
There is no there and here,
There is no eternal or now,
There Is.
It Is.
Only Is.
Is.

ఏమిటి మనము చేయగలిగింది

ఏమిటి మనము చేయగలిగింది?

చేసుకుంటూ పోవడమే,

నేర్చుకుంటూ పోవడమే.

చేసుకుంటూ, నేర్చుకుంటూ 

ముందుకు వెళ్ళడమే,

మనము చేయగలిగింది.

తప్పు జరిగినప్పుడల్లా

మనకు మనము

విశ్లేషించి సరిదిద్దుకుంటూ

బనత్ బనత్ బన్ జాయే

అన్న నానుడిని చాటుకుంటూ 

ముందుకు వెళ్ళడమే,

మనము చేయగలిగింది.

ఓ గురుదేవా!

అనుక్షణం నీవు నిర్దేశించిన

దారిలొ ప్రయాణించ గలిగే

సంస్కారాన్ని ఇవ్వు తండ్రి.

అని మొరపెట్టుకోవడమే

మనము చేయగలిగింది.

Viveka-Discrimination

 What is Viveka (विवेक)?

The rough translation of the Sanskrit word Viveka into English would be "discrimination." Here, discrimination is not used to discriminate among the various aspects or objects of the world. Viveka विवेक or the discriminatory power of a human being is used for the following:

• to understand the interconnectedness between each and every aspect of the manifested cosmos - it could be a human being with every aspect of Cosmos - microorganisms to stellar bodies, etc.;
• to realize that everything is same in its essence the way it is build up (five elements of nature);
• to realize experientially (not theoretically) that everything is same and is formed or created because of thoughts and the entanglement towards those thoughts; and
• to go beyond the thought processes and merge or become one with the thoughtless and finally melt into the unmanifest or the avyakta अव्यक्त

Viveka विवेक is used as a tool to transcend the mind, to understand the essence of Cosmos and its oneness and enter the state of Samadhi समाधि.

Meditative Techniques

 Meditative Techniques from Patanjali Yoga-sutras

Meditative Techniques from Samadhi Pada:

1. Reasoning and reflection on Truth.

2. Focusing on Silence and Stillness.

3. Single point focus on any one aspect of Ishvara (form or formless).

4. Focusing on pranava shabda – Om.

5. Thinking about the meaning of Ishvara while performing the japa of Ishvara.

6. Regulating the breath - keeping inhalation and exhalation of the same duration.

7. Focusing on any one worldly aspect continuously (may be a flower, flame, etc.)

8. Staying in the neutral state of beyond any attachments of dualities of nature.

9. Focusing on the aspect of deep sleep state.

10. Focusing on the light at the kutastha (on the center of the forehead, between the eyebrows).

Aid to meditation: Friendliness, compassion, pleasantness, being detached to dualities (pain and pleasure; virtue and sin).

Who/What?

Who/What?

The title of this post itself is very intriguing, excavating and exploring.

If we look at human being's life there are various aspects that through which we gather many experiences.

In the wakefulness state we gather experiences through 14 elements:

• 5 organs of senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin)
• 5 organs of action (mouth, arms, feet, excretory and reproductive organs)
• 4 internal elements (mind, intellect, ego and chitta)

In the dream state also we gather experiences through these same 14 elements.

Surprisingly in the deep sleep state we don't gather any experiences and we are not even aware of the presence of these 14 elements. More surprisingly we become aware or we have a knowledge that we have slept deeply and feel very refreshed.

So, "who/what" is that which is present and letting us know about our experiences?

We might be under an illusion that we are experiencing so many phenomenon or various aspects of life. But, if we reflect truly and very intriguingly, then there should be something or someone who is witnessing the experiencer and the aspect of experiencing process also.

So, this kind of questioning takes us deep into an aspect where we are thrown into silence and there is no answer really in the form of an answer to our question. What exactly is happening is that we become aware of a witness being ever present and witnessing all aspects of the illusory happenings and the illusory identifications of these happenings.

Hence, this witness is the one that is eternally present and eternally free. The illusion of achieving freedom is again an illusory thought which is arising because of the illusory identifications and entanglements with the various illusory happenings.

So, in truth there is only an eternal witness that is witnessing all the illusory happenings. In summary life is a bundle of illusory happenstances with illusory identifications and illusory entanglements. When we question what/who is actually telling us that, so and so aspect of life is happening? Then with the right approach and seeing we can go beyond the happening, beyond the illusion and beyond the identification. Then, we go beyond the question and instead of finding the answer, we become the answer. In reality we are the answer already. We just need to realize that we are the answer already.

The practice is to:

• see beyond the seeing and the non-seeing
• hear beyond the hearing and non-hearing
• feeling beyond the feeling and non-feeling
• tasting beyond the tasting and non-tasting
• smelling beyond the smelling and non-smelling
• witnessing beyond the doing and non-doing
• witnessing beyond the thinking, non-thinking, thought and thoughtless
• witnessing beyond the being and non-being
• witnessing beyond the entanglement and non-entanglement
• witnessing beyond the identification and non-identification
• witnessing beyond the states of wakefulness, dream and deep sleep state
• witnessing beyond the experience, the experiencer, non-experience and the non-experiencer
• witnessing beyond the witnessing and non-witnessing

Then the question and the questioner witnesses that in reality they are the answer and the answer is ever present witnessing eternally.

This is what we can call it as the "self" reflecting on the "Self" and realizing that it is the "Self"!

Self Awareness

Self Awareness

Introduction

The first step in achieving Emotional Intelligence is to become aware of our self which in short is called as self-awareness. However, it is not so easy. 

The self awareness aspect consists two parts:

1. Self-regard: Accepting and respecting our present self (including our strengths and weaknesses)
2. Self-actualization: Understanding and achieving our true potential

Analogy

If we consider Self-regard as point A and Self-actualization as point B, then travelling from point A to point B can be considered as the major aspect of a human-being's life. If I consider point A as my starting point and point B as my destination point, then until and unless I am not very clear about point A, I cannot go to point B. This means I should be thoroughly knowing about my point A and have a complete clarity as this is my starting point. If I do not know my point A, I will not be able to make a clear pathway to my point B.

Point A is accepting our own self the way we are, both in terms of our strengths and weaknesses, our virtues and vices, our pleasure points and unpleasant points (trigger points), our happy moments and sad moments, our likes and dislikes, etc. Until and unless we cannot accept completely we cannot really make progress.

Acceptance

Most of us, we don't feel comfortable in accepting ourselves. We would leave some aspects of our life untouched and these untouched aspects or emotions become blind spots over a period of time and get surfaced out whenever a huge turbulence or turmoil suddenly strikes us. It is of utmost importance for us as a human-being to accept and respect our self the way we are irrespective of whatever challenges, troubles, tribulations that we are facing based upon various circumstances and the environment in which we are.

Self-reflection

The best way to understand our own self is self-reflection. We as human-beings have this unique capability when compared to other animals and can spend some time in self-reflection to know ourselves completely. 

The best ways are:

1. Journaling
2. Mindful observation of our thoughts (in terms of desires, wants and needs)
3. Reflecting on our actions of the past and in the present

Journaling

Journaling helps us to understand more and more our deep rooted emotions that are unanswered and probably have become millstones over a period of time being unaddressed. The best time for journaling would be 30 minutes before going to sleep.

Mindful observation

Mindful observation can be carried out throughout the day and especially taking some time to spend in silence, 

• to observe and reflect on how our life is being spent and how we are really living? 
• how much time we are spending on meaningful activities and how much time we are spending on non-meaningful activities? 
• how much time we are spending on meaningful, value added conversations and how much time we are spending on non-meaningful, non-value added conversations?

Reflection

Reflection on our actions of the past could be a bit challenging, especially when it is associated with some pain. Hence, one need to be careful and cultivate enough compassion for oneself before attempting this sort of exercise.

Having done so, once we obtain clarity on our point A, we can further reflect on our point B. 

To reach our point B:

1. We need to understand what is that we require and why we require it?
2. We have to question whether our point B is really going to add meaning to our life and is it going to fulfill the true purpose of life as a true human being?
3. To create and make a pathway to our point B we can take help of peers by consulting them or get coached by experts.
4. We need to gather all the necessary tools and start with tiny steps and reach our true full potential

Conclusion

Self-reflection plays a major role in self-awareness. Self-awareness helps us to maneuver our life and navigate ourselves to more meaningful aspects of life and enhance our overall well-being. Our well-beingness can add some meaning to others well-being there by we can become instrumental in making a better world. By the way the journey of self-awareness is a life-long journey. Just a word of caution. 😊

Choice of Our Actions

Choice of our Actions

Introduction

Life always gives us choices to choose from every situation. What we choose could be based upon many factors. The factors could be our belief systems, our strong emotions based upon our belief systems or emotions based upon the situation that we are going through in that moment.

It is not easy to be non-impulsive when emotions are very high and violent. The two choices that one can have in regular situations could be reactive or strategic. To be reactive not much effort is required. We can just go with the emotion that is strongly prevailing in that situation. However, to be non-reactive, non-impulsive and strategic we need to be really focussed on the final outcome of the situation instead of getting hijacked or succumbing to the emotion of the situation.

Choices

A reactive response is generally based upon impulses and could be judgmental, biased, prejudiced, more of a fixed-mindset and often leads in dis-harmony, non-productivity and regret.

A strategic response is non-impulsive, non-judgmental, unbiased, unprejudiced, more of growth-mindset and leads to harmony, productivity and contentment.

Solution

Mindfulness/Meditative practices will enable us to reflect on the reactions of our bodies and the emotions that we undergo in every situation. These practices will also help us to choose consciously the appropriate response.

Conclusion

Hence, next time let us consciously choose to be strategic and live a life of harmony and contentment.

What is Awareness?

What is Awareness?

Awareness is pure, untainted and enables us to see transparently through everything - the truth of the true existence of the manifested cosmos - that it is all spirit and nothing else. The spirit dwelling in each and every part and parcel of the manifested cosmos.

Pure awareness allows us to see through the thoughts, rather than the thoughts. The seeing through the thoughts enables us to let go the identities to which we are generally bound. It allows us space to travel infinitely without boundaries.  To question and challenge every aspect of life, and see through the validity and triviality of each aspect. This process of seeing through will enhance our seeing, observing, witnessing and enable us to identify our entanglements and provides us a platform to consciously choose upon which entanglements we would like to keep and not. Further, the pure awareness will also help us in letting go all the entanglements and become free to become infinite, boundless there by expanding our love and compassion unto the whole manifested cosmos. The pure awareness will let us stay comfortably in the unmanifested cosmos and witness the manifested cosmos without any entanglements.

Pure awareness is like boundless emptiness which can hold everything without getting entangled with anything. It is that one, that is present and one need not make any attempt to become aware of its presence. To become aware of the eternal presence of the pure awareness, one has to let go all the entanglements of body and mind and be comfortable in staying in the boundless cosmos, holding onto nothing. In that freedom from knowledge, ignorance, thoughts, entanglements when one stays in that emptiness, then the awareness itself becomes aware of its existence and allow us to become aware of its existence. This process does not involve any acquiring, it only involves an acknowledgement from the nothingness, by the nothingness and happens when we are completely in that nothingness. Pure awareness is infinite, boundless and free. 

Overcoming Pain through Compassion not through avoidance

Overcoming Pain through Compassion not through avoidance.

Pain is something which is an unwanted feeling, but somehow we are more or less addicted to it. If everything is fine, hunky-dory we get bored and want to have something else and look for more challenging tasks or something more stimulating. Now this is all good where we wanted to have it and somehow or the other we make arrangements to prepare for it.

What if pain comes up from a clear blue sky, highly unanticipated situations? How to face it? What if there are situations or events that you expect will go smoothly and it turns out exactly opposite? It hurts right? It hurts very badly. We enter into that realm of melancholy and don't know how long it keeps haunting us and pushes us into some sort of depression if not too deep into it. These are those situations that we would love to avoid, but inevitability keeps striking back. Life throws at us experiences that we never anticipated and it becomes really a struggle to face them or accept them.

How to deal with pain without avoiding it is the crux of this article.

Radical Acceptance

In psychology "radical acceptance" is the term which is used for these kind of situations. Instead of fighting with the reality of an untoward incident, you accept the situation the way it is. The way life has thrown on your face straight without any warning. Accept it and face it. Instead of ruminating on "why me?," "why to me only?," "why to my life only?," one can say, okay it has happened, what next, what should be my next move? Where should I go next? If the situation is not giving you anytime to think, then go with whatever flow you can just flow. If it is giving you sometime to think, then analyze it and choose the most appropriate way to maneuver through it and come out successfully.

Well it is not so easy. I know.

Sometimes the pain is so hurting, that it might as well take years to let go and heal ourselves. Under such circumstances the one beauty of radical acceptance is to melt into it. Because in denial of pain we are struggling more to come out of the entanglement and enhance the tangling's rather than reduce them.

While the pain is inevitable because of whatever the circumstances which could be not under our control, the suffering is based on choice completely. Suffering is where one can make a choice, either to suffer or not to suffer.

The process

Sit or lie down in a safe place and undergo through the painful situation and while you are carrying out this process don't try to deny anything, even if the mistake is from your side, accept it, don't deny it. Just accept it and melt into it. Then, one fine moment of it through this process when complete denial stops and you have melted completely into it and accepted it (if you have to cry, then do that also) then a gentle relief comes up. From that gentle relief and in that moment have compassion towards you. Build that compassion for yourself. Love yourself the way you are. Accept yourself the way you are - your strengths and weaknesses, your skills, your capabilities and inabilities, your ups and downs, your praises and blames, everything. Keep accepting everything compassionately. Say unto yourselves, it is all fine. It is okay to be imperfect also and there is a perfection in imperfection. Keep remembering that. Love yourself so much that you can forgive everything about you and others also. Cultivate, develop, improve that compassion so that it becomes very easy for you to accept and go through that pain smoothly and when you are completely free, all the entanglements loosen up and you can come out of them easily. 

• Remember in the denial the strangling's get more complicated, in acceptance they can get loosened up.
• In practice of acceptance we let go the resistance
• In letting go the resistance we allow the compassion to get in
• With compassion we should and able to love ourselves first, and then we can spread that compassion to others

Acceptance does not mean agreeing

Now acceptance does not mean agreeing. If something bad has happened, that does not mean you agree for it to happen again and again. You are not becoming someone's door mat. You accept for the current situation or the situation that has occurred in past and take all those measures so that you correct your course and shift the direction of the sails and proceed towards higher realms of compassionate living, harmonious success, peace, tranquility and poise.

The Essence of Spiritual Practices

 What is the essence of Spiritual Practices?

The essence of Spiritual Practices or for that matter any practice is to "breathe consciously" and become aware of the presence of awareness.

While breathing consciously you are focusing on any of the following:

• the breath itself
• the breath moving in and out at entry and exit point of nostrils
• the soft sound of breath hhhssss at entry and exit point of nostrils
• the breath moving in and out and along with that movement of breath, movement within the body from upper portion of lungs to the abdomen and reverse
• the spiritual heart (anāhata chakra)
• the pit of throat
• the sound of breath that it makes at the pit of the throat
• moving consciously along the spine from mulādhāra (coccyx) to kūṭastha (ājna chakra) along with the movement of breath
• focusing just at kūṭastha (ājna chakra)
• chanting some syllables along with the inhalation and exhalation
• the movement of energy from uvula to up into the sahasrāra
• just awareness or nothingness

After any one of the above practices are strengthened and high efficiency is obtained due to effective conscious method of practice, one can go beyond the mind or thoughts and become aware of the presence of awareness. One can just become aware of the stillness and silence that is ever present within.