Spiritual Journey (part 3) - Power of Perspective

 

More than a couple of months had passed, since Jack and Jill's last visit to the monastery when they learned about Emptiness. 

Jack's homework had been to to cultivate being aware of being the experiencer in his day to day activities. 

Over the past month and a half Jack had been cultivating his awareness practice, which he had managed to enhance to a level where he was aware of himself as an experiencer majority of  the times. The awareness practice had spilled over into Jack's dream state, where he was able to be moderately aware of his dreams. There were still some actions he struggled with in being aware and one of them related to his anger, which seemed to come unannounced, but at least he had started becoming aware of it during or after the fact. 

Jill's homework had been to cultivate presence, by being in the zone initially at least twice a day and then gradually increasing to all activities she did. 

Jill's work mostly required Jill to find blocks of time to be free from distractions. Jill was quickly able to find time to be in an absorbed state as far as her work was concerned, however being absorbed in mundane tasks and other uninteresting tasks proved to be challenging initially. With continued practice Jill was able to stay largely present during her day.

The awareness and presence practices, had appeared to be hard work for both Jack and Jill and the results had not been apparent initially, but they were transformative was clear to them based on feedback from friends, family and work colleagues. However both Jack and Jill felt they still had a way to go in learning the nuances of these practices, before they could claim mastery.

It was Sunday, they both got up early to make the most of the day, and had already called the monastery to book enough time with the monk who they referred to now as the Master.
The Master was seated in the usual position in a meditative pose at the base of the big statue of Buddha. He greeted them and then said "you both have made good progress over the last two months, much better than most, come have a seat. Today lets strengthen, all that you have learnt so far through your practices".

Turning towards Jack, the Master said "I see you are more aware of your day to day actions, but anger is an emotion not yet visible to you before it arises. Know this that all your emotions need to be accepted as they are, there is no good or bad, some emotions are more deeply engrained in you due to your past habits and so will require more awareness practice to become visible. What do you feel ?"

"I have certainly become a calmer person as a result of this practice and feel I am in control of most of my emotions other than anger. This is also the feedback from work and Jill. However how to I get rid of the anger" asked Jack.

"The first step is to accept the emotion in this case anger, whenever it arises, the next step is to understand what it is that triggers it, surely you are not angry at everything that does not happen the way you want it. Perhaps it relates to certain people, certain situations, find out how you normally react and create an intention to be aware whenever such situations arise in the future. The intent can be further refined by rehearsing what you would consider an acceptable response, so that when you encounter the situation again, your response is aware and considered. Remember the purpose of awareness practice is to shine the light on activity which in the past was carried out on auto-pilot. As the awareness strengthens, you will find all your emotional states will become visible and eventually create a sense of detachment from these intense emotions, reducing the impact of the emotion" said the Master. 

Turning towards Jill, the Master said "I see you are more present in your day to day activities, how do you feel ?". 

"I initially struggled with mundane tasks, but now I have started enjoying everything I do. There are times when the old habits of the mind are triggered and my egoic mind drives my actions, I am not sure how to overcome this" said Jill.

"Remember the years of mind conditioning will not dissolve in an instant, this will require some time and practice. Every time you feel old habits have taken over again, firstly accept the habit for what it is and then surrender to the present, dwelling on the habit will not do any good, practice this and you shall become more present. Always remember that Presence is your natural state and all the habits that have been adopted are just that - adoptions, once you accept them for what the habits are, and surrender to the present, they will disappear" said the Master.

"Everything that appears is perfect as is and is continually changing and hence not the absolute truth, once you recognise this then that which you perceive becomes yet another perspective of the illusion. The more broader your perspective, the less entangled you are in that which appears as an illusion. For example he who has lived his entire life in a village, sees everything from the perspective of the village, but he who has travelled across villages and towns and cities will have a more broader perspective. One who has travelled across multiple countries will have a still more broader perspective, but someone who has travelled across planets and galaxies, even more broader. So it is with awareness, awareness from the point of view of the ego is more broader than awareness from the point of view of the body, but awareness from the point of view of the experiencer / self is even more broader. However, when all dualistic concepts are dissolved, the perspective that remains is that which is the broadest of all - that of oneness. Everything at its core is one and when one realises this, which is everyone's natural state of being, there are no two, the mental structure of me, mine, ego, etc are all dropped. This change will begin to happen as one becomes more present, the actions that one takes are not by or for me and you, but for the only one and it is then that a shift in perspective occurs " said the Master.

"Any activity that is carried out from a perspective of oneness is going to be all inclusive, full of love, creativity, natural and wholesome, it will be free from doer ship and hence free from all entanglements. This is the perspective from which everything must be perceived and acted upon. Remember you are emptiness and the perspective from this is the broadest, but you are also the various forms, which is limited, with limited perspectives.

All form based perspectives are sub-sets of this broader perspective and consequently lead to bondage and entanglements. Once this is known all you both need to do is be aware of which perspective you are operating from and try to adopt the perspective of the experiencer as a minimum, even if you can't operate from presence. The tip here is to continually remind yourself by asking the question 'what perspective am I perceiving things from now ?' or alternatively ask yourself the question 'what am I thinking right now ?' and you will discover, you instantly become present for a few seconds or a minute. 

You are both doing well, continue your practice and come back to me in a month" said the Master.

Both Jack and Jill thanked and bowed to the Master and took his leave, walking out of the monastery, keen to apply what they had learnt in their day to day lives.

As they walked past the monastery, there on the monastery gates, on a black board they saw the following thought of the day and it resonated with their learnings today.

"It is easy to believe we are each a wave and forget we are also the ocean" 

 Spiritual Journey (part 1) - Relationship, Spiritual Journey (part 2) - Emptiness

Illusion ( part 7) - Awareness and Presence

 

After ten years of study, a monk attained the rank of Zen Teacher. One rainy day soon after his advancement, he journeyed to visit his old Zen Master.
 
When he walked into the house, the Master greeted him with a question.
“Tell me, did you leave your sandals and umbrella on the porch?”
“Yes,” replied the Teacher.
“And tell me,” the Master continued, “Did you leave your umbrella to the left or to the right of your sandals?”
The Teacher realized he did not know the answer, and that he had not yet attained full awareness and needed to deepen his practice.
 
Just like the Zen Teacher, on a day to day basis most of us are carrying out activities on auto-pilot and later wonder if we turned off the cooktop or if we closed the door of our house when we left home or did we leave the iron turned on. All of these are indicators that we have not been fully aware when we were carrying out these activities.
 
For those that are on the Path of Knowledge, awareness implies being the witness to all that appears while remembering that I am the experiencer.

 

What is this awareness ?
 
Colloquially speaking the word awareness is used loosely to imply having knowledge or a perception of something. However in this particular context we will define awareness as a special kind of mental activity, where the knowledge of the experiencer is present. When in awareness the attention maybe focussed on a single activity or multiple activities.
A pre-requisite to being in awareness is the realisation of the self and a prerequisite to which is the knowledge of the experiencer.
 
Why do I need to be self realised in order for me to be in awareness ?
 
Before a house can be built, special attention is given to the foundation of the house. The stronger the foundation, more stable the structure that sits on the foundation will be. The knowledge of the self and the illusion is the foundation on which the awareness sits. Self realisation is the knowing that consolidates the knowledge that has been gained of the self. If for example, the foundation of the house is not reinforced with concrete any shift or settlement of the land is likely to make the structure of the house unstable and lead to cracks initially, but in adverse cases collapsing of the house. So it is with knowledge of the self, if it is superficial and not based on knowing / realisation, then the resulting awareness easily drifts with the object that is observed.
 
Just like the house needs to be anchored to a foundation or a boat needs to anchored with an anchor, the awareness needs to anchored on the self, without which it will continually drift.
 
How do I gain this essential knowledge of the self ?
 
To gain the essential knowledge of the self, illusion and oneness, the path of knowledge is the easiest path to follow. This path has been taught by various gurus such as Ramana Maharishi, Mooji, Tarun Pradhan. The Three Day Program (takes approximately three hours in total) is one of the quickest way to gain this essential knowledge.
 
How will this essential knowledge and being in awareness change my life ?
 
When one drives from point A to point B they can either drive in the general direction towards B and hope to reach there, frequently stopping to ask for directions and at times getting lost or they can take a GPS which can take them through the shortest route, saving them time and money. So it is with knowledge and awareness, in of itself, it is of no use, however when used correctly, essential knowledge and awareness can save time, energy and effort by providing the most optimal path to the seeker's goals.
 
Without essential knowledge, most people are going around in circles, repeating the same mistakes, caught up in ignorance hoping for a different outcome. With essential knowledge, that which is necessary is only retained, everything else is discarded.
 
Where does awareness sit with respect to the intellect ?
 
The body mind structure is a multi-layered structure, with intellect being one of the higher layers of this structure. Most people have experienced that decisions that are made using the intellect are more logical and rational, compared to decisions made by lower layers such as emotions, feelings or physical desires.  Similar to intellect, awareness is another layer, which is higher than the intellect. Just like the intellect can be used to govern the lower layers, similarly awareness can govern the intellect and the layers below it. Actions carried out in awareness are devoid of the sense of doer ship and free the seeker from the consequences of the actions.
 
Is there a layer higher then awareness that a seeker can aspire to ?   
 
Awareness is the highest layer of the body mind structure that a being can aspire to and as such is also a mental activity. There is however a state wherein the mental activity stops, in this state the seeker becomes one with existence, the experience and the experiencer merge. This is the state of being or presence.
 
What do I need to do to be in this state of presence ?

The body mind structure that we are born with is an amazing structure that functions most efficiently on its own, with various checks and balances already in place to ensure it remains stable, survives and evolves. The various organs of this structure perform their functions seamlessly, without any intervention. However when one organ gets excessively prioritised over everything else then the body mind structure becomes unstable, for example when mind related activity dominates to the point that a separate egoic identity is created then the structure becomes unstable. This egoic identity then becomes the master and makes decisions, drives outcomes that perpetuates its survival even though it may be to the detriment of the overall body mind structure. Creating thoughts that strengthen it are far more important to it, even if they create toxicity in the body. So it is that as the egoic identity takes control, fear, anger, lust, greed, attachment rule the roost, despite the fact that all of these have adverse impact on the physiology of the body. Over time the natural state of the body mind structure is forgotten and new habits, new beliefs driven by the ego take root. 

Presence is this natural state which despite the control of the ego, still shines from time to time. When one sees something spectacular, their mental activity stops for a few seconds and then they are in this state of presence. Everyone has experienced this state at one time or another, but people have forgotten this is their natural state, which is minus the conditioning, the beliefs, the ego and the thoughts. This state is right here, right now and to be in this state nothing needs to be done. The act of doing and ignorance has masked this state of presence, we all are already in the state of presence. Just dropping the doing will simply get one in this state. 

It is easy to say drop the doing, but an egoic identity that has overtaken one's being is very hard to overcome. I realise there is nothing I can do to be in the state of presence, but there must be something I can do to reduce the stranglehold of the ego ?

The simplest steps a seeker can take is, choose a path, find a guru and remove the ignorance. To enter the state of presence, nothing needs to be done, nothing can be done, however beyond the foundational knowledge of the self, illusion and oneness, below are some techniques that can be used to loosen the grip of the ego and prepare a seeker to enter the state of presence -

• Nature. Being in nature, alone, in silence is known to connect one to their natural state. The more picturesque and overawing (snow covered mountains, glaciers, beautiful gardens) the experience, the more quickly and the longer the natural state can shine. The important thing to remember is to not get addicted to the experience, rather use the experience as a gateway to enter the state of presence.
• Music. Music can create a similar effect to nature if one is musically inclined and connect one to their natural state, which is empty of any qualities.
• Physical activity. Similar to nature and music, intense physical activity such as sports can lead to state of being. In this category is included various physical activities related to breathing called pranayama, balancing chi (called tai chi), yoga (various forms of physical and meditative practices), all of which have the effect of quietening the mind or at times shutting down the mind such that thought related activity is dropped.
• Acceptance. A seeker may be musically inclined or inclined towards sports or any other experience, whatever it may be, is an opportunity to be present. Every experience no matter what it is, whether a seeker likes it or not is an opportunity to be in presence. Stronger the the likes and the dislikes, easier the possibility of entering presence through attention and absorption. The key here is acceptance of what is. Stronger the emotion associated with the experience, the easier it is to transmute the energy to become present. 
• Attention and Absorption. Keeping the attention on what is being attended to, excluding all other objects can lead to an absorbed state which makes the experiencer one with the experience. The more absorbed a seeker is, the more stronger the presence. There can be situations when the boundary between the seeker and the object of attention disappears and the seeker becomes one with the object of attention. If one experiences such states, there is nothing to be scared of, as the bondage of the body mind will always bring the seeker back to its egoic identity. Attention and absorption offer very well tried pathways especially on the paths of devotion in loosening the ego. 
• Awareness. Being in awareness of the self is one of the most tried and tested way to loosen the grip of the ego and get detached from the egoic identity. Being aware of the thoughts and the ego provides a ready pathway into presence. With practice the body mind structure gets habituated at continually being in awareness. Another technique that uses inclusive attention, creates a state of heightened alertness, with the body mind structure aware of all that appears to it. 
• Surrender. Letting go and surrender is another failsafe mechanism in reducing the grip of the ego. More details on surrender and how to achieve it can be found here.

It is worth noting presence is right here right now if a seeker is willing to drop their ignorance.

Why should I aspire for presence and what are the benefits of being in this state of presence ?

Presence is not a state you can achieve by doing something, you are already in this state, so aspiring for it will not make you present. The mind incorrectly believes that doing something will get one to the desired state, unfortunately presence is beyond the mind, hence no amount of mental activity or physical activity can get one into the state of presence.

In a state of presence, the being is one with existence, free from suffering, liberated from karmic or any other bondage. There is eternal freedom, nothing to do, nowhere to go, no one to impress, no desires. All that is unnecessary is dropped, there is eternal freedom.

      

In summary, presence is the most natural state of a being, nothing needs to be done to be in it, yet it is the state that provides eternal liberation and freedom from suffering.

Illusion ( part 6) - Knowledge and Truth

Once a Zen master announced it was time for him to step down and one of his disciples was to succeed him. He decided that the disciple who best summarised their learning in a sentence would be his successor. The learning had to be original was his only condition.

One of his very bright disciples wrote, "The human mind is like a mirror on which, over time, the dust of experience and knowledge accumulates; clear the dust and then the free mind is settled in truth."

All the disciples thought that this could be the best answer there was, but were surprised when the master rejected it outright. In the monastery was a young boy who had come into the monastery for learning, but had been asked by his master to go away. The boy stayed at the monastery working in the granary grinding rice 12 hours a day every day for the past 12 years waiting for his master to call him. 

When the rice grinder boy heard about the quote, that the master had discarded, he agreed with the master stating that this is not the supreme truth. The disciples mocked him and said if he knew better, he should come up with a better quote. 

The rice grinder boy wrote - "what mirror and which dust, there is no mirror and no dust. The one who knows this is always stationed in truth."

The master saw the quote and immediately anointed the boy as his true heir.   

The boy had realised the truth and the master recognised it as soon as he saw the writing. As it is in the story, the boy recognised that all that appears is changing and hence not the truth. What then remains unchanged is the truth. 

The truth is the existence is appearing to itself as illusionary experiences. The essence of existence is emptiness, it is devoid of concepts, ideas and substance, just empty. When a seeker is in the state of experiencing, presence or being, the seeker realises this and then becomes one with existence. 

However for purposes of survival, all of us have established what we call as relative truths and the criteria used can be as strict as the one used by the boy in which case only the true self that is changeless, ageless, birth less, deathless and eternal is the truth, everything else is an illusion. If on the other hand a more relaxed criteria is used for measuring truth such as that which my direct experience tells me as truth is the truth or that which logic says is the truth is true, you arrive at relative truths, based on individual direct experiences. 

Does that mean that we can't trust what others are saying if everything that changes is false or an illusion ?

For the purposes of day to day living or survival we have to accept untruths into our decision making process as otherwise we will not be able to make decisions that help us survive. For instance one can argue that the body itself is an illusion as it is changing, as is death, so believing this one can jump from a hill thinking that they will not die because death is an illusion. This type of reasoning is foolish as it ignores the basic laws of survival and the need to take necessary precautions to preserve the body in order for the being to survive. Similarly for the purposes of survival the body needs food, clothing and shelter to a certain level, beyond which it is unnecessary.   

What is the purpose of knowing the greater truth, when I still have to make decisions using relative truths ?

Once the universal truth is known, then the being can easily discard the unnecessary. For example once it is known that all that appears is an illusion, then running after experiences stops, whether it be physical objects, concepts or relationships or other experiences. Everything is then seen from the perspective of the truth and all entanglements with false hood drop, till one only does that which is necessary for survival and the rest is discarded. Most people are slaves of their minds, which continually keep them in their past or the future, expending energy. Once the truth is known, all this unnecessary wastage of energy stops and one then only deals with relative truths that are necessary.

Does that mean that even the knowledge I have gathered is unnecessary and if so what knowledge is necessary ? 

There is some knowledge that is required for survival and hence it is necessary, everything else is unnecessary. It is worth noting that knowledge is just information gathered about all that appears, which once understood to be illusory is really the knowledge of the illusion. What purpose can this knowledge serve if it does not help survival. Once a person looks at knowledge from this perspective, it is observed that most of the information that has been collected is of no use.

Other than the knowledge required for survival, the only other knowledge that is necessary is the knowledge of the self, the knowledge of the illusion and oneness. Once this knowledge is gained, everything else becomes unnecessary.

What about all the spiritual knowledge that is in various scriptures, which eventually provides various techniques to find the truth ?

If we establish a very strict criteria that, all that changes is not the truth, then using this criteria all the below sources are not reliable as sources of knowledge -

• Spoken word - as it continually changes and is based on the speaker and their interpretations.
• Written word - is written based on the perceptions of the writer.
• Any object, concept or experience that can be perceived.  

The above immediately discounts, scriptures, books, media, teachers, even the gurus, everything.

If that is the case then how can I find the truth ?

To find the absolute truth the traditional method of gaining knowledge, which is cumulative or additive is not appropriate. From childhood we are taught the alphabet, the numbers and these are then used as building blocks to construct sentences, communicate and understand all aspects of the illusion. We have been taught to build layer upon layer of information, mostly from unverified sources, some on beliefs, some on conditionings and these we call knowledge. This knowledge is flawed as it is based on the errors of perception and unreliable sources. Hence this type of knowledge is very unreliable for arriving at the truth and to a large extent in decision making for survival.

There is another way of arriving at the truth called negative knowledge, which examines all that appears and discards it one by one based on the strict criteria of truth, that if it changes, it is not the truth and using this criteria what then remains is the truth.  This method is very effective at especially identifying truths of concepts that are unknowable. Not only is this approach useful in arriving at the truth, but it also assists in discerning between reliable unreliable sources of knowledge. This method is ideal for removal of ignorance and living a life free from indoctrinations and false beliefs. 

In summary all that changes is not the truth, however to navigate through this illusion we need to make decisions based on what we call as relative truths all of which are based on sources of information and knowledge that are illusory. The only truth that exists is all that is, is the existence, which in essence is empty and is appearing to itself as illusionary experiences. When the seeker abides in the state of presence, the seeker becomes one with the existence and the truth.

Illusion ( part 5) - Teacher, Guru and Universal Intelligence

In the various posts to date on illusion we have now examined that what ever we perceive is erroneous, our understanding of happiness itself is illusory, our desires and thoughts are also illusory. In fact everything that appears is illusory, as it continually changes and has infinite possibilities. So the question arises, how do we navigate through this illusion, especially if all that appears is not as it seems and is impermanent ?.

 

We often hear people talk about teachers, mentors, guides, gurus, masters and divine beings as beings that can help navigate through the illusion.

 

Are they all different names for teachers or guides ?

 

No, in fact these are all different roles suitable in different situations.

 

So what is the difference ?

 

Colloquially speaking people use these terms interchangeably, however usually a teacher is associated with teaching a certain skillset, or a certain technique. These skillsets are usually measurable and have a defined outcome. Examples include studying at school or for a vocation or at university, etc.

 

A guide or a mentor is a more loosely defined coaching setup for guidance or advisory purposes only. Usually a mentor has achieved what the mentee is looking to achieve and the mentor provides coaching and guidance based on their experiences.

 

The actual definition of a guru is someone who takes a person from darkness to light. Colloquially speaking it implies someone who has mastered a discipline or a field. However in the context of spirituality it is someone who helps a person realise their true self. The term master is also sometimes interchangeably used with a guru. Usually gurus and masters deal with non-physical, non mental realms of practice and are less focussed on teaching skills or techniques as an end goal, but more as a stepping stone to help a being realise their true self.

 

How can I find a guru or a master that can make me realise my true nature ?

 

Normally one goes and looks for a teacher, a guide or a mentor based on their expertise, qualifications, experience and reputation. However all such measures fail when searching for a guru or a master, because the true worth of guru can not be comprehended by the intellect of a normal person or a seeker.

 

So how can I find the right guru ?

 

You don't find the right guru, the right guru always finds you when you are ready. This may sound very illogical, however this has been the experience of countless seekers and gurus and masters themselves. When the time is right, the seeker is ready, the right guru, the right path will unfold. All that is required is an open mind from the seeker, with a strong desire to find the truth or find the self and the right guru will appear.

How do I know I have found the right guru ? 

There are some signs that a seeker can observe such as (this is not a complete list) -

• The guru is found as a result of a coincident, but rarely as a result of personal effort.
• The true guru / master will always urge a seeker to trust their direct experience and discourage a seeker to blindly follow them or anyone. 
• In a seeker's journey with the guru, a number of coincidental situations will arise or some call it miracles begin to occur. Examples include when you have questions, doubts or confusion, without prompting, the guru will provide you answers, what you need will begin to happen (not what you desire).
• As the seeker evolves, they do not need to speak or ask and the path starts unfolding, people appear in their lives that help the seeker on their journey. No effort is required on behalf of the seeker other than following the directions of a guru.
• There comes a point that the seeker may feel that the guru is consorting with the entire universe to help the seeker evolve. This is a beautiful experience, but will occur at a stage where the seeker has achieved a sufficient level of surrender. 

Who is guiding the guru to find the seeker ?

 

A seeker seeks a guru for guidance, similarly a guru may seek his / her guru for their own guidance and a universal intelligence, sometimes referred to as the Gurufield or the divine intelligence. Gurus that have realised their true nature have already established this connection with the universal intelligence and as such their every action is being guided by this intelligence. This intelligence is continually guiding the gurus and the seekers to come together. 

Once a seeker has found their guru, they may continue to be with their guru, till they have realised their true nature or the work of the guru is complete. In this process a guru may introduce the seeker to the universal intelligence so that continual guidance from the guru is not required.

 

What is this universal intelligence and why can't I access it directly instead of looking for a guru first ?

 

The universal intelligence is the intelligence that pervades across all beings, is infinite and is the intelligence within which all masters, gurus and beings, past, present and future emanate from and dissolve. It is the source of all knowledge that has been and can ever be conceived.

 

This universal intelligence can be accessed by anyone and everyone, however the body mind structure requires a certain level of purity to be able to access and understand this intelligence. This purification process as well as the removal of ignorance is what a guru will assist a seeker with so the seeker realises their true nature and can comprehend this intelligence.

Another way of looking at this is that most people are so identified with their body mind structure and their egoic identity that they cannot perceive anything but from this egoic perspective. To connect to the universal intelligence, a seeker needs to override the egoic identity and replace it with surrender. This almost always requires intervention and guidance from a guru or a master. 

Kabir Das a 15th century Indian mystic and saint summed this up in one of his poems.

Guru Govind dou khade, kake lagoon paay,

Balihari guru aapno, Govind diyo batay

It means that if a guru and the divine are standing in front of you, who should one bow to first. One should first bow to the guru who shows the way to the divine, or in other words without guru access to the divine is not possible.

 

How do I know that I have access to the universal intelligence ?

To access the gurufield or the universal intelligence, the seeker needs to be in a state of selfless surrender, which is also called the state of presence or being. This is the natural state, no effort is required to be in this state, however lifetimes of conditioning and ignorance has hidden this state under the egoic identity. When you are in this state of being, the egoic identity disappears and instead the being then becomes an instrument of the universal intelligence. A clear indication of this connection is when a seeker reflects on their actions later on in this state, they are amazed at what they said, what they did as something beyond their own intelligence. It is as if a greater power took control of their body mind structure and said or did things that later appear to be impossible for the body mind structure or the egoic identity to comprehend. These are just some pointers, given seekers can often imagine this connection, as the egoic identity can be very strong in some, hence it is best to first find a guru who can guide a seeker through this process or make the connection. 

 

Can I have multiple gurus at the same time ?

 

Technically there is nothing stopping one from having multiple gurus at the same time, however lets examine this in more detail. This question originates from the view point that you can have multiple teachers at the same time teaching you multiple topics as it is in the school, so it should be possible to have multiple gurus at the same time. However the difference as we have seen is that a teacher is teaching different skills and as long as the skills do not overlap, it does not matter. For example you can be learning tennis, cricket, swimming all from different teachers, there is no issue as the skills trained for, largely, do not overlap. But if you went to two different teachers to learn cricket and they give you conflicting advice, then there will be confusion. Similarly following directions from multiple gurus at the same time will only result in confusion, when there is conflicting advice. Even when the spiritual path followed is different, there will be conflict, as the goal on all the spiritual paths is the same.

 

Can a guru make me realise my true nature ?

 

No, no one can make you realise who you already are. But a guru can help you remove the ignorance that is covering up your true nature. A guru can point you to the knowledge or to your true nature, but the realisation of the self only occurs through removal of ignorance and contemplation on the essential knowledge. The guru is like the sun that is always shining, but it is for the seeker to seek the light of the sun and remove the ignorance.

 

What is the best way to seek a gurus guidance ?

 

A guru's grace is always shining like the sun, however to tap into it a seeker needs to approach the guru with an open mind with complete surrender. In this state the seeker becomes the most receptive to the guru's guidance.

 

Does that mean I must blindly follow what a guru says ?

 

No not really. One must still question what the guru says and use their own intellect and discrimination to incorporate what the guru says into a seeker's life. For example, in a group setting, the guru might stress the importance of practices to cultivate prolonged states of attention, however a seeker has to understand that this is a generic advice to beginners and a more targeted advice is required based on an individual interaction with the guru for the seeker. So everything that the guru is saying must be assessed, evaluated and then applied. On the other hand though, questioning everything that the guru says is the other extreme and detrimental to one's spiritual progress.

 

So how can I strike the right balance ?

 

Firstly there should be a strong level of trust between the seeker and the guru. This trust is fundamental to receiving and benefitting from the guru's guidance. To establish this trust initially, a seeker may need to ask a number of questions and discriminate everything that the guru says, but once a level of basic trust is developed, the right balance is automatically found.  It is very important to remember that developing trust or even respecting the guru is not the same as worshipping a guru. In fact quite the opposite, one of the worst things a seeker can do is start worshipping a guru and treat everything that is said by the guru as gospel. When this happens, the context, the intent, the audience and applicability of the message from the guru is lost and replaced with blind faith. This can lead to errors in adopting a guru's message meant for other seeker(s) causing confusion.

In summary, a guru is essential on a spiritual path and a seeker does not need to find a guru, the right guru appears when the seeker is ready. When the right guru appears, the seeker just needs to surrender to make the most of the guru's grace and guidance. 

Illusion ( part 4) - Thoughts, Intentions and Feelings

 

All that is perceived is continually changing and an illusion. Thoughts and feelings too are one of the illusory forms, which we will explore today.

On a typical day a person thinks anywhere between 6,000 to 70,000 thoughts.  There is a viewpoint that 70 - 80% of these thoughts are negative. Our experience does tell us that anything negative appears to trigger the flight or fight response of the body mind structure and hence the human mind is more conditioned to take notice of negative thoughts. Hence the fear that something might be more relevant to our survival and may require a emergency response automatically prioritises negative over positive.

 

Another commonly held viewpoint is that thoughts expend energy, the more you think, the more tired you get, which is no surprise that when you are in deep sleep your day to day thoughts are absent and you expend the least amount of energy. It can also be observed from direct experience that absence of thoughts in deep sleep also refreshes the mind and the body.

 

Thoughts can be about anything, but intention creates focussed thoughts, which in turn leads to actions and feelings, repetitive actions become a habit and a habit becomes a set of values which in turn becomes your destiny.

 

Thoughts do one other thing within us. They impact our physiology by impacting the hormonal balance in our body. This in turn creates emotions and feelings and these impact the way we behave. For example a sudden release of endorphins makes you happy compared to a release of adrenaline and noradrenaline when you are angry. These hormones then affect the way your various body organs react. For instance when you are angry your heart starts beating faster, your blood pressure changes, your breath becomes shorter, etc. One single thought can have a massive impact on the physiology of your body. Sustained thinking can permanently impact your physiology to a point you may develop chronic pain in parts of your body.

Excessive thinking of the past (which can not be changed) is a major contributor of depression and excessive thinking of the future is a major contributor of anxiety. 

 

If your thoughts can have such a big impact on you and your life, isn't it important to learn how we can manage them.

 

Based on the above we can see all these impacts are a direct result of your thoughts or habits encountering an external or internal trigger point. It is clear external trigger points are not in your control. So the only thing you can manage are your thoughts and your habits.

 

So how to do this?

 

Thoughts are very subtle and hard to monitor. For instance one random thought about food can lead to a chain reaction of thoughts and next thing you know you are salivating thinking about something you ate years back.

Thoughts come in clusters, thoughts are normal and natural, excessive thoughts can make you addicted to thinking. In particular the major impact of thoughts is that they result in unwanted actions and feelings.

How can I manage thoughts and feelings ?

One of the ways to manage thoughts is to watch them come and go and not get carried away with them. The moment you shine the light of awareness on thoughts they disappear. For this one of the most essential ingredients is acceptance of thoughts as they are. If you try to change or control them or suppress them you then get attached to them and can no longer watch them in an aware state.  Initially it may be hard to watch thoughts, so it may be better to start cultivating the practice of witnessing or watching with something more grosser like feelings and desires.

 

A similar process applies to feelings. If you are feeling pain or anger, just observing it makes it disappear. The trick is you need to be aware of what you are feeling. As feelings are more gross then thoughts, it is much easier to observe them.

As you observe feelings you begin to realise that feelings collect other feelings, as well as they result from unresolved thoughts. For example if you are feeling pain because of a broken relationship, now if you have a physical pain, it too adds to your relationship pain and together they create a collective mass of pain. So any new pain you feel starts collecting with already existing pain. Over time you become a collection point for pain unless you accept and clear the pain backlog. This holds true for other emotions such as anger, fear, anxiety, etc.

But feelings of pain appear to be so real, how can I avoid them ?

To avoid collecting emotions you need to be conscious and aware. To remove collected emotions you need to simply watch them and accept them for what they are.

 

One practice that works well is on a daily basis just pick a time perhaps before you go to bed to reflect on how aware you were during the day of your emotions and your thoughts and what if any learnings you had that can be applied to the next day. During the practice assess if there have been any new emotional backlogs that have been generated as a result of actions or thoughts carried out without awareness during the day. This will ensure emotional backlogs are kept to a minimum and emotional collections during the day are promptly cleared.

 

You can always use the five step process of Intention, Attention, Observation, Awareness and Contemplation for understanding desires, to understand feelings as well.

 

Can you reduce the number of thoughts ?

 

There are many different techniques that have been employed by seekers for thousands of years, below are listed some of the common ones -

• Anything you shine the light of awareness on, will disappear, so being aware of one's thoughts not only detaches one from the thoughts but also gradually sees the thoughts fizzle away as one becomes present in the here and now.

• Another technique that has been used for centuries by zen masters is the practice of zazen which is meditative technique used for deep contemplation and eventually emptying the mind of thoughts. There are many resources that can provide instructions on the practice, one of which can be found here.

• Another set of techniques which are based on Yogic principles focus on intense physical activity or breathing activity, which are built to a certain crescendo and then stopped, then suddenly silences the mind. These practices are followed by those on the path of energies, hence can cause significant side effects if practiced in the absence of a qualified Guru.

• One practice that is more suited to people on the devotional path is the practice of chanting a mantra. This practice whilst followed by many people, does not silence the mind if it is carried out in autopilot mode. Any mantra that is picked for chanting, has a certain intonation and a certain meaning. Chanting the mantra and with a focus on the meaning is enough to get a persons mind silenced. Quality is more important than quantity. There are certain base or beej (seed) mantras which when chanted result in instant emptying of mind (internal purification is required to achieve this).

• One of the simplest practices is the practice of attention on a single activity or single tasking (as opposed to multi-tasking), which ensures that one enters a meditative state of being one with the activity being carried out. This ensures one becomes immediately present. Initially this practice can be started with in-posture attention on an object, gradually applied to day to day activities and eventually can result in complete emptying of the mind and oneness with the activity or object of attention. 

• Another strategy that works is time boxing the required thinking. For example allocating a certain time for daily planning or time boxing work related thoughts to weekdays only between certain times. This ensures that unnecessary thoughts especially those that lead to anxiety or depression are reduced and the thinking becomes focussed and targeted.  

What are the impacts of reduced thoughts ?

 

As we know the more the number of thoughts, more energy we expend and more likely we are to create unwanted feelings, impact on the physiology of our body and generate negativity. Reduction in thoughts leads to sharpening of the intellect, clarity of purpose in life, manifestation of one's desires and intentions (that which you want begins to happen) and above all return to the state of being and oneness, which is the natural state of every person.

Once thoughts are managed, just having a strong intention has been known to cure physical ailments, manifest wealth, expedite spiritual progress and bring all that appears as illusory into the seeker's control if the seeker so desires.

 

In summary intentions, thoughts and feelings are the fundamental illusory forms that are the key building blocks that can transform a seeker. Managing them effectively not only makes an individual optimise their survival activities as well as speeds up the individual's spiritual progress and knowledge of the illusion, leading to a life free from suffering.

Illusion ( part 3) - Desires

 

We all have desires, desire for that exotic holiday, desire for that house by the beach, desire for that coveted job, desire to be famous, desire to be loved, desire to be respected, desire to be rich. The list of desires is endless.

So what is a desire and how are they created ?

The dictionary describes desire as a strong wish or a strong feeling for something to happen.

The above is how we understand a desire to be once our mind perceives the wishing, the wanting or the craving. Every being is created with a set of desires that helps the being survive (desires of hunger, thirst, etc which we will call as the survival desires) and a set of desires for evolution of the being (desires that propagate the evolution and procreation of the being). Across the plant and animal kingdom, the human species has the most complex and refined set of survival and evolution desires, which are continually being adapted to meet the environmental context.

In addition to the survival and evolution desires, desires can also be created whenever an action (action can be a physical or a mental action) is performed. This is the nature of existence in the physical world as we see it. Every action creates a potential for a desire(s) to fulfil the reaction(s) of the action. As a result every human being is born with a set of desires collected from past actions that may appear in the present lifetime or a future lifetime based on how conducive the present environment is for their fulfilment. The desires that are conducive to being fulfilled in the present life of a being are sometimes known as the destiny of a being or the purpose of one's present life.

If every action I take has a potential for the creation of a desire, can others actions also create desires for me ? What are the different types of desires ?

 The short answer is yes. Desires can be broken up into three main categories -

 

1. My inherent desires. We have already seen two types of these in the form of desires for survival (hunger, thirst, rest, etc) and desires for evolution (reproduction, continuous improvement, optimisation). The third sub category of my inherent desires are desires borne out of my past actions or thoughts. These could be as a result of choices or decisions that one has made about various aspects of life, for example living in a certain suburb, building a house, getting into relationships, having children. All of these actions provide options and choices and consequently a desire to choose one of them or not to choose.

 

2. My adopted desires. These are desires a person has adopted from others as a result of their influence or as a result of the influence of their environment. Once adopted, these are treated as ones own desires. A person who has lived their childhood in poverty may have a strong desire for wealth when they grow up. Even though the desire for wealth never existed when they were born, but the scarcity in the childhood created a desire to overcome the scarcity. Similarly when one of your friends who you admire buys that beautiful branded handbag or a watch, a desire to have a similar handbag or a watch is created in you. Like this we are continuously adopting desires from others without even knowing it.

 

3. Desires that others have of me or imposed on me. These are desires that others or society has that relate to how they expect you to behave, act or even think. These can also be called as expectations that others have of us. Examples include expectations that parents have of their children. At times parents have been unable to achieve certain desires of their own related to their career or sports and they impose these desires on their children, wishing their children will fulfil these for them. There are desires that a spouse may have of their partner about gifts, money, behaviour, etc.

It must be noted that most people live their lives completely oblivious of their desires.

How does it matter if one is oblivious of their desires, don't desires give you something to live for and those that are fulfilled make you happy ?

If a person is unaware of the nature of their desires and their origin, then one can easily lead their life chasing other people's desires, which may lead to lack of contentment or frustration due to unfulfilled desires. The other consequence of following or adopting others desires is that you become a doormat, with no independent thinking of your own, completely controlled by others. The end result is you feel unhappy and unfulfilled as your desires are never addressed and are supressed or de-prioritised. At some point suppressed desires will surface creating an emotional storm, potentially damaging yourself and your relationships.

So how can I become aware of my desires versus someone else's desires that I have adopted ?   

In order to discern between the different types of desires, it is first important to first have the ability to witness and observe a desire and then determine their source or whether the desire is yours or adopted by you.

Let us say Jack has a fear of small closed confined places and this creates an intense desire to avoid closed confined spaces (claustrophobia). To find out more about this desire the following steps can be followed -

 

1. Intention. Have a strong intent of what you want to achieve, such as which desire you want to focus on, what you want to know about the desire such as the source, how it manifests in your life, the impact on your life and so on. You may want to be aware of the desire every time it manifests. Jack first creates a strong and clear intention of finding out how claustrophobia has come into his life and be aware of it whenever he feels this fear of avoiding closed spaces.

 

2. Attention. Once the intent is clear take your attention to the specific desire that you are interested in. Exclude all other thoughts about other desires. Jack focuses his attention on his desire to avoid closed spaces, but also discovers there are many times when he is in closed spaces and he is distracted and this fear does not exist.

 

3. Observation. Once you have the ability to pin point a desire through your intention and attention, you can observe it in action. The more sharper the ability to observe desires in action, the more easier it becomes to distinguish between desires. Jack observes his desire in action in multiple scenarios and situations.

 

4. Awareness. There comes a point wherein the act of observing, creates an awareness of all that is observed and in this context all the desires. Jack is now immediately aware of his desire to be free from claustrophobia and when it is triggered. His awareness makes him aware of the triggers and the fear even before it has manifested.

 

5. Contemplation. With refined awareness comes the ability to perceive desires in their true form and reflecting on the desires provides insights as to their origin. Contemplating on the scenarios in which the fear is triggered, how it is triggered provides Jack insight into an adverse childhood experience he had when he was locked in a cupboard and he panicked. All of a sudden the source of that fear is known and reflecting on it allows him to reconcile and accept the fear and the desire to avoid it in future.

Once the above steps are practiced a few times, they become muscle memory and just like Jack one becomes aware of the desire and its source and finds a means to fulfil them or accept them. For people who have realised their true self and are continually in awareness, the above steps are automatically happening in autopilot and the source of their desires is revealed to them.

Whilst Jack discovered the root cause or the source of his fear through contemplation, however there is another crude technique that can be used for finding the root cause of ones desires. This is called the five whys technique. Lets take an example.

Jill has this innate desire to say yes to everyone, her partner Jack, her boss at work and her friends. This creates enormous challenges and conflicts for Jill as she is not able to deliver on what she has agreed with everyone around her making her feel inadequate.

Jill uses this five whys technique, wherein she asks herself why questions till she arrives at a possible root cause.

 

1. Why do I say yes to every request people have of me ?

Perhaps I want to be on the good side of everyone.

 

2. Why do I want to be on the good side of everyone ?

I feel I am letting people down and I am concerned what they will think of me.

 

3. Why am I concerned what they will think of me ?

Perhaps I feel I am not good enough for everyone around me if I don't please them.

 

4. Why don't I feel good enough to be my natural self ?

There was a time when I spoke what I felt and hurt my sister by being honest. So I should try to say yes and please people.

 

As can be seen the five whys technique allows one to objectively find out the root cause for simple desires. Used in conjunction with the five steps of intention, attention, observation, awareness and contemplation, this technique can be quite insightful in understanding ones desires.

Ok I know now how to watch my desires and find their source, but how do I control them or how do I get rid of them ?

Controlling desires or suppressing them is not a good idea. In this regard a popular saying is quite apt "that which you resist will persist". Once a desire, its many forms, how it is triggered is known, accepting it for what it is, is required. Desires that are not accepted or subdued or suppressed, will come back stronger than they ever have been. Similarly trying to get rid of desires results in the desires getting stronger. So the natural question is what can be done or rather what should be done with them ?.

Till now we have gone through various techniques to understand a desire, when it manifests and whether it is ours or adopted or imposed on us. The best outcome with respect to a desire is to manage it.

 How do I manage a desire or desires ?

The first step in managing desires is acknowledging and accepting them for what they are. They are natural, necessary and neither good or bad.

Desires of survival need to exist in a healthy balance. Too much craving for food, drink, sleep, exercise, rest etc, creates an imbalance. Often times shining the light of awareness on desires or being aware of them and their causes is the first step in managing them. For people with strong minds, just having an intention for balance is enough to manifest a sense of balance in all survival related desires.

A similar process applies for desires related to evolution (reproduction, procreation optimisation, etc). That which is necessary needs to be performed, impurities that created excessive craving for any of the desires of survival or evolution need to be observed, contemplated upon and removed. The associated desires will automatically disappear as well as the person will get rid of the impurities.

Another big category of desires are the desires that one has adopted. These desires start disappearing once it is known that these were never really mine but were adopted. Understanding the root cause of these desires will often get rid of them or manage them out. If that does not happen, shining the light of awareness and contemplation on them will certainly manage them out.

Desires imposed on a person by friends, family or society are more complex and can have a detrimental impact on a person's relationships if not managed appropriately. Once a root cause of an imposed desire or driver of a desire is understood through the above techniques, in another person, it is much easier to address it through communication, negotiation and agreement. This may not be possible under all circumstances, especially where the one imposing their desires is in a position of power and will not agree to relinquishing their desire or their expectation. In such cases it is best to be aware of the desires and discard them when not required. Of course in most cases if imposed desires have become adopted by a person sometime in the distant past then being aware of them, acknowledging and accepting the desires can often times make them disappear.

The above desires are relatively easy to manage once their source is known, the scenario in which they are triggered is understood and the relevance or irrelevance of them is established. However desires that have originated from ones own actions are more persistent and need to be fulfilled. These desires can be postponed, but eventually they will keep on appearing time and again until they are fulfilled or rationalised away without suppression.

What happens to desires that are suppressed and how do I recognise them ?

Desires that are suppressed are like a "jack in the box" which will always reappear. The stronger the suppression the more strongly they reappear. Suppressed desires are noticeable by the stubborn consistency they keep on reappearing until they are fulfilled. A person who has consistent craving for food, for attention, for luxury items has had these desires of their suppressed in the past, which results in persistence of these desires even after they have been fulfilled. Persistent desires are particularly hard to get rid of as even fulfilling them will not get rid of the desire. The desire has become embedded as a habit or in some cases an addiction in the person, hence a more dramatic action may be required. This is true of desires related to consumption of intoxicating substances and drugs. 

What can I do to free myself from desires that have resulted in addictions ?

Removing addictions is a complex topic, however at a high level some strategies that can be used are - 

• consult a medical practitioner to have the addiction appropriately assessed and diagnosed.
• consult a specialist that specialises in dealing with the specific addiction (i.e. nutritionist for food related addictions).
• consult a psychologist who may assist in reversing or replacing the addictive habits with more health habits.

How can I avoid collecting desires based on my actions, is it even possible ?

It is absolutely possible to avoid generating new desires based on ones actions. Once it is understood that a mind body structure which contains even the smallest semblance of a discrete egoic identity, will have desires that will manifest and flourish, it is easy to deal with desires. For instance for desires to be accumulated an anchor such as the egoic identity is required. To reduce the impact of desires that have been accumulated over time or avoid generating new desires, letting go of the egoic identity is the easiest option. However as long as a human exists, there will always be some level of egoic identity for survival and evolutionary purposes. So the best option is to remain in awareness of the self or in a state of presence.

Being in a state of awareness detaches the self / experiencer from that which is experienced and as such frees the self from the bondage of doer ship or the consequences of ones actions / desires.

Similarly being in a state of presence also absolves one of the results of their actions, as these actions and thus manifested desires are carried out in a state of surrender, with no ownership attached to the egoic identity.       

Kabir Das a 15th century Indian mystic and saint summed up the benefit of managing desires in one of his poems.

Chaha gayi chinta miti manua beparwah

Jinko kachu na chahiye, woh shahon ke shah

When the desire goes, anxiety disappears and the mind becomes blasé / heedless

The one who wants nothing or desires nothing, he becomes the king of all kings

Once the self is realised, there is nothing to know, nothing to desire and true freedom from bondage caused by desires is achieved.

In summary desires are natural for survival and evolution and if unmanaged can result in suffering, however with proper understanding desires can have their impacts managed.

As rightly pointed by Rumi below once you know your self all other desires will end.