Everyone is fighting their own battle

I genuinely think of myself as compassionate. And it is not restricted to humans. I tend to feel for all the living beings including vegetation. However living in increasingly cunning & fast paced world can have subtle effects on most quiescent being. Bombarded with increasing number of stories about people faking the misery & exploiting the generosity of others, one tends to be cautious; if not downright apathetic.

As for me, I have also become more cautious and cunning while showing any generosity, if at all. Nowadays I tend to examine the subject from various angles to make sure that it is not being exploited. And usually- it is too late by then to be able to do anything. Such a incident happened with me a few days ago which jolted me out of my slumber to clearly see how this is not the best of policies.

I was travelling by train in a general compartment. This was after a very long time that I was travelling unreserved. I enjoy doing such a travel once in a while. Such a bogey tends to contain people from all the cross sections of society and hence usually enriches you with experience and give you humility. It was a very hot summer day in north India. There was this one gentleman sitting in the seat opposite to me who appeared to be in his early forties. He was well built and appeared thirsty at the time when I noticed him. He was making some attempts to get water but all the while sitting in his berth. At the next stop, he asked a person who was deboarding, to send some water volunteers towards our bogey (each train station usually have some water volunteers during summer days who distribute water to the travelers. It is a usual practice in North India and is considered noblest of service). However no volunteer could make it as far as our bogey was the last one of the train. Volunteers are usually not as many to be able to cater to each bogey. They also try to hand out the water glasses from the windows, as the train slowly starts leaving the platform. People can grab the glass, drink it and then throw it back to the platform anywhere, which is then picked and reused.
This person also tried to grab these glass but could not due to the speed of the train. I was watching this scenario and was feeling for this person. I was having a bottle of water with me which I wanted to share with him. But then at this time, two thoughts held me back 1) why did he not try to go out and drink it from the station. he appeared to be fit enough to do some running, which could be required. 2) I had some cough and was drinking directly from the bottle, hence there was minor risk of infection to him. Although second reason appears more genuine at this time but the real reason which held me back then was the first one.

For significant time, I keep having this arguments back and forth in mind and felt very uneasy. I did NOT proceed to give him the water.  After a few minutes, I looked in that direction and saw that another young fellow, who had also witnessed the plight of the man, had offered him water from his bottle. This filled me with relaxation and guilt at the same.
The man drank a little, felt relaxed and then started having conversation with this young fellow - 'Thank you. But if I drink your water, what would you do?'   'Dont worry, I will manage' said the young fellow.  The man drank some more water and explained 'I am coming back from the metropolis after taking an injection for stroke'. So THIS was the reason he could not do the athletics required for drinking water from the station during the short time train stops.
At this point the lesson dawned upon me  'We can never judge the battle each person is fighting. Hence it is better to give a benefit of doubt while helping anyone in need. It is always better to help even if you run the risk of being exploited'.

This is a very valuable lesson. I will remember it preciously from now on & would recommend it to everyone. It would surely make this world a little better.

The pursuit of Happiness

Happiness, Fun, Joy, Enjoyment.
सुख, खुशी, आनंद।

we take them in a same fashion. But there is a qualitative difference between them. सुख is usually used for the short term feeling obtained from fulfillment of a goal or from exercising the senses. It is the one which is most anticipated and the cause of all the rat-race in this world.
On the other hand, आनंद is a whole another feeling. It just comes naturally. You dont need to do anything for it but just to pause a little bit and realise that you have it. But we are so engrossed in chasing the सुख that we dont give a chance for आनंद to manifest. However there are those occasional moments when our greeds leaves us or are asleep and we get overwhelmed by आनंद। Remember the time when you suddenly noticed the beauty of the day, the rising sun, the morning dew drops, the overcast sky or just about anything which you would have ignored in your rush. The rush to go through life quickly. Isnt that strange, we want to live quickly and yet we want to live longer. what is the hurry?

Following is what I called Happiness - Desire curve. Happiness is the आनंद , the fun of action itself. Desire is the desire of the fruit of action.




As our desire for the fruit of our action grows stronger, we no longer pay attention to the joy of action itself. In this manner we loose not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. The duration of action is much longer than the time taken to enjoy the fruits of action. If we loose all the fun in action itself, it becomes misery. we spend long hours of misery to enjoy seconds of success.
Plus the joy of action is qualitatively better than the joy of success.

Ideal would be an enlightened being who acts for the sake of action and not for the fruit of action and who has no desire left. But for us lesser mortals, we dont understand the logic of doing anything unless there is a big fruit standing at the end of it. But try doing it for once.
Its like playing with your child. you dont play with him/her to win or lose. The action itself is the fruit of it.

Recognizing the Observer within

All Religious texts point to 3 basic divisions of consciousness:
- The mana or the mind
- The mati or the intellect
- The aatma or the soul/conscience

Each of these has various levels and inclinations. The mana or the mind; the most notorious of them all, can be satvik (inclined to positive), rajsik (inclined to materialism) or tamsik (inclined to negative).
Mati or the intellect has various levels defined in religious texts. There are many practices which when followed will lead the mati to higher levels. There is a separate name for each level of intellect or mati. It is very interesting; I will put it up here sometime.


Mind is unstoppable; it is so disillusionary that only a handful are able to control it to some part. and yes; the chosen few leap across it.
Higher the level of mati or the intellect; better will be the control over the mana. But yet, it is mere control. It is like a gas contained in a steel vessel. The gas and the pressure is still present. Mind is still not fully tamed and can not be fully tamed by intellect. It is beyond intellect. Hence when we try to control the mind from one side; it will express itself from another side or dimension.

It is a game which keeps going between mana and the mati. When we choose the path of intellect and try to recognize the observer; it is important to be careful that we do not fall into illusion of the mind or the intellect either. Intellect may not be of highest level and can sure cause illusion or in other words; allow the mind to create the illusion.

I am getting this feeling that it is what is happening with me. It has been long since I have sit in meditation and looked within. There were times when I could see the observer clearly; but I feel that there has been a lot of dust since; and it needs to cleaned up by sessions of meditation before we could continue the path of intellect.

I think; the other paths like the path of bhakti or devotion or the path of prem or love; can be very useful to sheild the sadhak against various attacks made by mana. It is not easy to catch mana. The intellect should be of highest level which is possible by performing various rituals; and it is good to incline mana to satvik inclination. it will help to maintain the intellect and would pose less hinderances.

Rest Later and as it dawns upon me..

Just another Sadhak seeking the almightly..

love you lord

Starting the Journey

Chapter 6 : Bhagwad Gita

Lord Krishna says the real saint is the one who has renounced the desire for fruits of Karma and not the one who has renounced karma.

The Osho elaboration is that the old ritual of attaining sainthood and retreating to the jungles is not the real sainthood. He criticizes it strongly and puts emphasis on living in the world and renouncing the desire itself.

But as I understand; it is like this: The ancient practice of retreating to a jungle for attaining sainthood is a mere help. Since a sanyasi is away from worldly attractions; it will help him to stay focussed on his goal. Surely; he has no attained sainthood yet since he is still aiming for something; desiring something. But the environment of jungle is less likely to distract a novice who is on the path. But yes; it is only a mere help; a beginning. It is not a necessary condition and definitely not a sufficient one. The end outcome should be that the sanyasi should be able to come back to the world and still maintain his samadhi.

The path guided by the Osho is to start renouncing the desires in day-to-day life. There is a bliss of another kind which can not be explained by words. To taste it; he asks to conduct a small 24 hr experiment. Stop desiring for the outcome anything we do (just about anything) for one day. we do all the normal chores but consciously try to keep focusing our mind to not to desire something for this period. I tried it and succeeded for about 5 hrs and I am pleased to say I experienced bliss.

But I am still confused on how to further tread along this path. It is not without danger; the major one being: you keep on controlling the desires and live in a blissfull state - all very well. But once the mischievous mana (mind) attacks you unaware; all the desire will come rushing. By then, it might be too late to fulfill them. So you may fall into deep turmoil & repentence; beginning to think that you were mere lazy and wasted the precious months/years of life. You will see your friends & colleagues who will be achieving things which you used to desire; and still desire. I fear that you dont feel like a terrible failure at that point.

At the same time; renouncing the desire for our actions doesnt mean inaction. Osho points that it will naturally lead to shedding away of all that is evil in life. All the life energy will get devoted to positive things. Hence, it is possible that your destiny takes you to another level which you might not have reached if you were caught in the tangle of desire. But in such a living; you have surrendered yourself to the supreme power; you have surrendered your boat to the tides. The tides may take you to the places you used to desire or which people desire or they may not take you there. Both the possibilities are there. But what is certain is that; while you are in that state - while you are in the state of devotion to the tide; it will be bliss. It will keep you healthy - physically and mentally and happy.

FOR, AGAINST & NEUTRAL

I have read OSHO recently and it has given some very good insights. The OSHO way is quite a lot the intellect way. I have read that he had been a phychology professor. Hence his analysis of different religious texts by phychological point of view have been very impressive.
Here are a few excerpts which I have picked from his books:

- Today's Human is more mature in thinking. Hence the religious secrets should be put across more clearly. The true intention should be put across for the human of today. For example, to prevent a child from eating too much sweets, we would say that the fridge is haunted. But an adult would not buy this argument; most likely not! so it is better to tell him the real thing.

- Human nature is full of conflict; full of duality. If you have been living in a certain way; after a while you will start liking the opposite. It keeps swinging like a pendulum.

- What is important is to develop an observer within. An Observer; Mere Observer! Whatever emotions and desires manifest in the mind; you should be able to stand at a distance behind and merely observe. You are not to interfere; you are not to stop; But just RECOGNISE the difference between You and the Mind. The moment you recognise the difference; the moment you recognise the observer; none of the emotions or desires will bind you. you will regain your free will in a truest possible sense.

- The answer is not to run away or renounce the world. For two reasons; one, it is not possible to renounce the world since world is everywhere. Second; running away is never a solution; the path goes THROUGH the difficulties of this world. Hence face them; work on them. Whatever is to be done is to be done here in this world only.




Hence the first step; the first baby step; and perhaps the most important step in this path of intellect is to begin the observation & recognise the observer. It shall transform the life and initiate the process which will lead to the ultimate.

Prayer

Shall we pray to God ? or

Shall we love God ? or

Shall we fear God ?

when we are born, we are born with no awareness.. no awareness of our own body, our state of being, of father, mother .. let alone the almighty. Slowly we begin to recognize this world.. starting with Mother.. Father.. then some more about the world.. then at some point of time we are introduced to God .. either form our parents, our teachers or the society.
It is vital that how we are introduced to this supreme power. If God was portrayed as powerful, controlling and judgmental , we will develop some fear. If God is portrayed as one who is provider of everything and is all merciful, we will be attracted to his kindness. More often, in India, it is a mixture of both where there are various forms of God. God is merciful and full of love at one time while he is all powerful and judgmental at others. So normally our collective image consists of both love and fear in different amounts.

Then, at some point of time, a human being is inspired to pray. Life is full of challenges and man constantly seeks support to cope with them. Prayer has scientific virtues. It helps focus the mind. It gives hope. Today, Prayer is being recognised even by those who do not recognise God. They say "If you truly long for something with all your heart, Universe will grant it to you"
Religions are unanimous on this "If you ask something from God with a pure heart, it will come to you"

Now, Isn't that easy! Just ask and get it.

But as always, there is a catch.. and when we try to understand this.. the whole concept of Maya unfolds. I do not have thorough knowledge of many religions except a few, But i believe this concept is embedded in almost every religion.
Ancient Sanskrit scriptures have been saying this since time immemorial:
संसार मोह माया है !!
(The world is mere an attraction & illusion)

When we ask for something from God, with a true heart. It sure does comes.. But it comes with a chain. A chain that is of our own making. A chain which is called desire. A chain of longing. It is chain because it binds us to this world, to the external circumstances, to the external materials.
So Prayer has a price and the price is huge. Price is our eternal freedom.

This freedom is revered in Spirituality. There is NOTHING beyond it. The whole concept of spirituality is to move from attachment to detachment.. and that is to bring back the freedom..
Why freedom?
because freedom is sheer joy.. freedom is pure bliss! If it rains, you are blissful, if sun shines, you are still joyful. The outer world ceases to matter anymore for someone who has attained that freedom. That state of joy can not be imagined from our current state. But we have had glimpses of that joy. That state puts to shame the best worldly experiences can have.


rest later ...

live like an animal or live like a saint

Animal..

It is considered derogatory to say someone is living like an animal. It is not advised to live like an animal by either the materialistic fellows or the spiritual ambassadors.

Materialistic or worldly fellows feel that an animal is not achieving any goal. Just fulfilling physical needs is not enough. They argue for higher echelon of needs like self-esteem and self actualization.

why would you need any sense of achievement if you have SATISFACTION. if you examine it closely, you will find satisfaction to be bigger than that. Animals are satisfied creatures by nature. They try to fulfill their basic needs. They don't worry about the future. They just keep on doing what they are genetically programmed (upto the level of their intelligence) to do.

Animals dont create karma. they burn off all the karma they have accumulated in past lives. They dont create karma because they dont desire. They work on fulfilling their needs and work on it without any other expectation. It is a little fine here. Desire is different from need. Need is natural, desire is un-natural. if we look a little deep, we can identify anything we seek as need or desire.

But despite all, saints dont recommend you to live like an animal. They ask you to rise a level above, above living without desire, above burning-karma mode. They ask you to explore the possibility of achieving the supreme state which is possible only in human form. The state which liberates you from the cycle of karma forever.