Unloading the Debris from the Mind

We carry a lot of unnecessary mental load because of the habitual running of thoughts which keeps us heavily externalized.  Just understanding how this process traps us is enough to start unloading.  An affectionate bystander attitude is all that is needed.

As one goes ahead with this process of unloading, it takes him or her along an interesting journey into oneself.  Generally people are not interested in this because they are hooked on to chasing something that gives them the feeling of getting somewhere, being somebody etc.  The true joy of life is lost when the present is sacrificed for the sake of the future.  This mental habit keeps people under its thumb like a juggernaut.  Seeing what a poison it is, some people move into what may be called the Natural Meditation.  This meditation is not based on any technique but on the understanding of the tyranny of thought.  It is just like learning how to swim.  The first steps in swimming, which is essentially a matter understanding the buoyant forces of water reflexively, are learned through a quiet contact with water.   We cannot say, ‘I am afraid of drowning; let me learn swimming and then enter water’. The same way, Natural Meditation too is learned through a direct dip into self-awareness - awareness of how self-interest keeps one’s habitual mental movements running and, in the process, creating the burden that we carry unnecessarily.   Once we sense this, the movement of freedom begins, releasing oneself from the burden.  This helps us glide into our inner region where we understand the true joy of living.  The beauty of it is that it does not lead to any kind of ascetic life, a life in which one is supposed to deny ordinary pleasures of life.  In fact, one becomes cheerful and mirthful to the point of loving everything one does.  There is a strange combination of seriousness in fulfilling one’s responsibilities and a laid-back attitude that helps one drop off the idiotic load that millions of human beings carry so unnecessarily.

More on Natural Meditation is covered in the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com  You can also communicate with me via the email gopal.tc@gmail.com

Peacefulness vis-a-vis Happiness

One of the important items that a majority of people do not seem to pay attention to is  the place peacefulness has in our lives vis-à-vis the place of happiness.  Peacefulness results from understanding, caring and maturing while happiness is usually tagged on to ego-satisfaction.  The problem with ego-satisfaction is that it always leads to chasing something that is missing and is rarely linked to ‘count your blessings’ type disposition in life.  Thus, unhappiness results, leading to defeatist attitudes and self-incrimination – in short, to a ‘peaceless’ state of mind.    

In contrast, discovering how peacefulness comes along is an avenue available for all; it is not dependent on circumstances, success etc.  We do not train our children to look in that direction.  On the other hand, we train them to conform to the neurosis of the society and to fall into success-worship and the associated rat-race.  Working for success is not a wrong thing but success-worship is a different matter.  If we can help our children lead a peaceful life, success will come of its own accord and then it will be wholesome; will not lead to megalomania.  But that is possible only if we ourselves understand the value of peacefulness as against the conventional approach of chasing ego-satisfaction.  When we care for peacefulness, the joy of applying ourselves to various demands of life becomes more important than overemphasizing the reliance on results and the associated satisfaction.  That joy is linked to the love with which we handle things and the self-awareness involved in it.  It engenders empathy as a concomitant factor and so there would be no “stepping on others’ toes”, as it would happens while chasing ego-satisfaction.  That leaves others to be peaceful too!     

In the interest of helping our children grow into peaceful human beings, it is imperative that we guide them from childhood to differentiate between caring for peacefulness and chasing happiness that is tied to results.  Though this is easier said than done, every inch of movement in that direction is a boon to the child as well as to the society.  That way it is possible to bring about a caring humanity and a wonderful world of peace and harmony in which success too will have its rightful place.                   

 

Synergism of Mental Energies – A Movement towards Holistic Living

When the energy elements are in helter-skelter form, they lack the synergistic effect. It is a pity because so much more can be achieved with synergism; sad that our noisy mental state, lacking polarization, fritters away the much needed energy.

Let us consider an iron piece before and after magnetization.  In the non-magnet, the internal elements (which are tiny magnets) are thrown helter-skelter with regard to their north-south polarity.  The result is that opposite poles are randomly arranged and so they cancel each other and the net magnetic effect is zero.  During magnetization, those elements are aligned by the magnetizing force such that their directions are polarized.  Here the small internal magnetized elements are aligned and at the ends of the bar there is concentration of the same polarity.  That is how the bar becomes a magnet with pronounced opposite poles at the ends.

   The analogy here is that our mental elements are also, in general, aligned in a haphazard manner.  When polarized, they function in a synergistic way and make the mind respond with some orderliness.  Waste of mental energy is avoided.  With deep interest in self-awareness, polarization takes place in our minds and, to that extent, we feel peaceful. Increased mental orderliness ushers in confidence.  Such unhealthy habits as smoking, drinking etc do not bother those in whom there is polarization.  Addictions cannot enslave such a mind. One keeps clear of the negative things without any effort. 

    The un-polarized mind hits physical health too. Correspondingly, when the mind is polarized, bodily illness becomes rare.  This is one area where effects are seen fairly early in one’s application.    

    Mental polarization is followed by convergence of the energies towards the Inner Being.  This situation augments the mental silence.  The state of mind becomes conducive to discovering what lies beyond the apparent. Vibrancy resulting from the convergence adds a spiritual quality to our daily lives. 

Website: http://spirituality.yolasite.com

   

The Inadequacy of the Verbal Approach to Living

People who are no longer stumped by the apparent issues of life understand the shortcomings of the verbal contact with life.  To them, there is a whole new universe that opens up.  The vast majority of human beings, though, are unaware of this truth and they allow themselves to be controlled by the verbal associations with the experiences in life.  The following paragraph taken from the Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra says something in that direction:

“The Eastern mystics, too, are well aware of the fact that all verbal descriptions of reality are inaccurate and incomplete.  The direct experience of reality transcends the realms of thought and language, and, since all mysticism is based on such a direct experience, everything said about it can only be partly true.  In physics, the approximate nature of all statements is quantified and progress is made by improving the approximations in many successive steps.  How then do the Eastern traditions deal with the problem of verbal communication?”

Capra answers this question in a detailed way in his book. We can also chip in here.   One answer can be based on the region of intuition whose power is far greater than the merely logical mind that relies on the verbal approach.  The pointer here is that those who understand the limitations of all belief systems move on to the inner awareness where the non-verbal contact with life rules the roost. That region is free of religious and other conditioning.  People who wish to lead a vibrant life sooner or later move into that zone.       

Some Avenues for Reflection towards ’Know Thyself’

Some Avenues for Reflection towards ’Know Thyself’

Modern Science & Mysticism – Understanding their convergence augments inner peace

Modern Science & Mysticism – Understanding their convergence augments inner peace

Can There be Freedom of the Will while Functioning from a Conditioned Mind?

Can There be Freedom of the Will while Functioning from a Conditioned Mind?

Gliding Into Oneself

The thought vortices function in the form of anger, fear, regret, self-pity, attachment, resentment, jealousy etc.  Their constant rubbing of the mind during the waking hours causes the depletion of the much needed mental energy to lead a sane life in this strife-torn world.  Religions offer to help but they themselves end up as cause for conflicts.  So, can there be freedom from all these?  The answer is found by each one for oneself through quiet self-awareness and the eagerness to discover what lies behind the palpable.  This journey of discovery is obviously imbued with patience and humility.  The associated 'gliding' into oneself brings in a calmness and serenity that prevents one from falling a prey to the propaganda of man-made systems.  As one Near Death Experiencer said, all exculsivistic religions are man-made; this is evidenced by the fact that ego places a significant role in their practices.  "My religion is the only way to God" says it all through its stamp of the "I', 'me' and the 'mine'.

As the man-made systems serve only to sustain the above mentioned vortices, we begin to wonder "Is there a way out of it all?"   This wonderment is the basis for the self-awareness that helps us take the inward gliding.  Such people, who form only a small minority now, are there all over the world doing their soul-search quietly and helping the collective-consciousness to  be freed from exclusivism, fanaticism and separatism.  If you feel drawn to this matter of inward journey of discovery, your life becomes enriched, not in the sense of belonging to the largest group or governed by similar megalomania, but in being washed clean by the purity of aloneness.  There is a world of difference between loneliness and aloneness.  In order to understand such hidden truths, one has to look for one's intuition rather than depend merely on the rational mind.  In this connection, the book "In Quest of the Deeper Self" can serve as a wayside companion.     
     

Sensing the Source of Peace

We all realize that peace of mind does not come about easily.  This is because we look for solutions without understanding the source of disturbance.  That is like an auto-mechanic trying to set right a problem in a misbehaving car without locating the fault.  Added to it is the fact of the religious people so readily offering a solution, so much so one would not apply oneself to discovering the source of the trouble. However, there are many of us (though forming only a minority as of now) who are serious and would go about probing into the matter of finding that source.  Such people will find abiding peace provided they persist in their application with sustained patience.

What is important in that journey of discovery is to understand the difference between (1) applying the merely rational mind and (2) turning to quiet self-awareness to bring about inner clarity.  Relying on the authority of others for such clarity can only thwart the movement towards the truth.  This does not mean we should not listen to others but that clinging to a particular source as a matter of exclusive guidance will lead us astray. We may say that relying on the mind is a matter of using the head while the non-verbal self-awareness is associated with the inner being where the native intelligence resides.

In this respect, it is good to reflect on the in-depth presentations, whether it comes from an enlightened Master or (unsuspectingly as it were) from a so called layman.   J. Krishnamurti says, "You cannot buy peace; it is not the invention of an intellect; it is not to be purchased through prayer, through bargaining.  It is not in any holy building, in any book, in any person.  No one can lead you to it, no guru, no priest, no symbol." 

Reflecting on such presentations as the one above, we can let the inner dive take place.  That can put us on a state of meditation in which there is no "meditator".  That is the movement which can take us to the source and prevent the disturbance from getting a foothold in us.     

The robot and the human being

Due to the repetitive thought process, the mind becomes hardened into a robot and our responses become mechanical.  This is part of the reason for mediocrity in life.  Even though one may have pots of money, fame and other satisfying situations, the robotic response in one causes unhappiness.  Involvement of the ego destroys human touch to one's responses, the robotic response being the very content of that ego.  So, the question is: Can one dissolve the robot in one?  A million dollar question!

Trying to control the robot cannot help because the controller himself is part of the robot.  What can help is a quiet awareness and understanding of the robot.  That means we have our attention turned on ourselves as the robot gets into action.  This is not easy.  However, with sustained interest in that direction the robot comes under spotlight and so begins to dissolve.  It becomes fun as we move deeper in that direction.  The inward journey based on self-awareness can clear up many unwanted mental states.  One becomes relaxed and meets life with a laid-back attitude.  Vibrancy in life has to have such a stable base of unruffled mind.

A Sequel to ‘Our Home – the Wider Consciousness’: Two Case Studies

A Sequel to ‘Our Home – the Wider Consciousness’: Two Case Studies

To be in the Driver Seat of One's Life

Henry David Thoreau, known as the Sage of the Walden Pond, has made many insightful remarks about life.  A philosopher in his own right, he led a life of solitude and wrote on many issues.  The following lines are taken from one of his essays.  Careful reflection on those can help us in our endeavor to lead a vibrant life.

 "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.  He will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.  In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex,...if you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be,....now put the foundation under them !  Such is the character of that morrow which mere lapse of time can never make to dawn."

Setting goals to guide us in life

The vast majority of people on this planet function as if they are mounted on a machine over which they have no control.  The psychological fabric of society captures people and they get driven by it like the soccer ball in the field.  Unknowingly, they get influenced by the idea that competition and the rat-race form the right way to live.  Once given over to it, it has strangle hold on the unwary people; the slavery sustains them to the point of  callously inflicting injury on others, not realizing that they have to face it in their turn.  Thus, the society is constantly in conflict keeping its citizens submerged in a sea of unhappiness.  Some people, however, become aware of this and begin to steer clear of the crowd metaphorically – and perhaps literally too!  They focus their life energies on short term and long term goals so that they lead a well ordered and useful life. In that very process, they create an atmosphere of well being in which they show an overall and holistic care of others and oneself.  These are the people who are going to bring about a different world - a world of caring human beings who do not indulge in cut-throat competition in the name of ‘survival of the fittest’ which is currently the driving force for most people.

To read further, visit the site www.freePRnow.com/pr/short-term-and-long-term-goals-on-streamlining-ones-life 

Freedom from Conditioning

The general human tendency is to let the mind rule the roost through its inherited and acquired conditioning.  Unknowingly, we all get caught in this momentum and lose our lives in the rut that captures us early in our lives. At some stage, some of us become reflective and realize with a shock the damage done to our psycho-physical system as a result of succumbing to the psychological forces around us.  Can we do something to get out of the rut?  The answer lies not in falling a prey to some systems, religious or anti-religious, but in standing alone, free from all conditioning.  That is like shining like a single star in a limpid sky.  This issue is taken up in my book "In Quest of the Deeper Self" that can serve as a wayside companion to those who wish to explore the esoteric side of life. Details of the book can be found in the site http://spirituality.yolasite.com/   The viewers are welcome to interact with the author through his email: gopal.tc@gmail.com  That can be a lot of fun!