TALKING POINT: Satan's 'Letters from Earth' and spirituality

Recently I have spent some time at Patanjali Yogpeeth Haridwar, where Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev teaches yoga to thousands of practitioners residing there. I met many devotees and then on my visit to Har Ki Pauri and Rishikesh, met some of the pilgrims and discussed about their religious beliefs and spirituality. During my stay I started thinking what it really means ... and here are some of my thoughts and some of the images that I have had taken in these places...

What Spirituality means?

Let me begin by sharing some lines from “Letters from Earth” - a book written by Mark Twain in 1909 about the Creator, who created the universe and then the earth and put the man along with all the animals on it.

Satan asked the Divine One, "What are they for?”

“They are an experiment in Morals and Conduct. Observe them, and be instructed." … Man is an experiment; the other animals are another experiment. Time will show whether they were worth the trouble. The exhibition is over; you may take your leave, my lords."

 

Christ showing the way to the pilgrims at Vagamon in Kerala

Several days passed by. This stands for a long stretch of (our) time, since in heaven a day is as a thousand years… Satan had been making admiring remarks about certain of the Creator's sparkling industries -- remarks which, being read between the lines, were sarcasms … and in the end, Satan is banished to Earth and privately reports back to St. Michael and St. Gabriel (through his letters from Earth)

Satan's Letter – a very small excerpts

“This (Earth) is a strange place, and extraordinary place, and interesting... Moreover… man thinks he is the Creator's pet. He believes the Creator is proud of him; he even believes the Creator loves him... He prays to Him, and thinks He listens. Isn't it a quaint idea? Fills his prayers with crude and bald and florid flatteries of Him, and thinks He (the creator) sits and purrs over these extravagancies and enjoys them. He prays for help, and favor, and protection, every day; and does it with hopefulness and confidence, too, although no prayer of his has ever been answered. The daily affronts, the daily defeat, do not discourage him, he goes on praying just the same. There is something almost fine about this perseverance…”

– Mark Twain in his book “Letters From The Earth” (1909)

 

A sadhu praying on the Triveni Ghat - Rishikesh

Now according to Charles Darwin, the father of Evolution, the survival of human beings as dominant species is quite a curious phenomenon as humans are not very formidable physical beings. But here we are, thriving and surviving, 6.2 billions of us. Even surviving the bottleneck about 3 to 4 millions of years ago, when our count was reduced to only 2000 to 3000 on the planet earth.

The evolutionary scientists agree that one of the reasons for our survival those days, was due to the fact that we could work together and hunt in groups. We were the social animals on the planet. As our ancestors migrated towards various landmass of Earth, evolved into various classes. Many among these classes did not survive e.g. the Neanderthals. They became extinct due to their inability to change, develop and adapt to new things; learn new way of hunting and doing things together. The class, which finally survived and became ancestors to the modern mankind, were not only social animals but also developed further tools like language, to efficiently communicate with each other, to form better hunting parties etc. They could think forward into the future, devise strategies to hunt, farm and store food for survival.

 

A girl walking across the suspension bridge in Rishikesh

As the history progressed, certain men among them rose to become the leaders of the various tribes and clans spread across the face of earth. These leaders, in order to keep their growing groups in certain cohesive control, devised the most potent tool of controlling masses - Religion in its structured form. And till today, its proving to be the most effective tool for controlling diverse people in large groups.

Krishna explaining the Divine Song 'Bhagwat Gita' to Arjuna - Triveni Ghat Rishikesh

The word religion derives from the Latin word ‘Religure’ which means ‘to bind’, but religion slowly, in its modern avatar, has become something that divides. More and more people do more and more different things based on their individual diverse religious beliefs, faiths and practices. For some it has even become a farce as Mark Twain’s Satan says in his ‘Letters from Earth’, “More men go to church than want to”.

 

Trying to capture the essence of religion -Shiva Ashram Rishikesh

When I travel to various places across India in my own spiritual search, I find various people flocking around temples, holy places and filling up ashrams along the riverbanks. I wonder about the reasons they are there. Sometimes, I try to talk to them to find whether they are looking for something or just escaping from the rigors of living. I hear the usual rhetoric of God and His guidance to find Him. Some even go through their convoluted philosophy of being enlightened and how they have transformed their lives from the penury of peace to the wealth of happiness. I find most of them begging in the garb of religion. Almost always in the end, they want to have something from me, of me. They are not happy with what they have and do not want to be happy by being true to themselves, just wander from one place to another, even though I doubt if they have gained anything in their wanderings. 

A sadhu in his full regalia on the banks of Holy River Ganges - Triveni Ghat

Some even try to show their siddhi (A power, attained through rituals, penance and practice, with which they can supposedly do miraculous things) but usually it turns out to be a performance of deception, guile or guesswork. And it drives me out of these places to solitude, nature and to search within, thinking.

But I am not here to talk about Religion, as there are far better people than me to talk about it. Instead I will share some of my thoughts on spirituality that I have had on my recent journey to Patanjali Yogapeetha, Haridwar and Rishikesh.

A sadhu wandering on the banks of Ganges - Rishikesh

“Spirituality is not a temple, pilgrimage or an escape to wilderness of nature, but a workshop where you work with your inner self to find the right path to be happy, content and attuned to the universal consciousness. As a human being, it’s our deepest desire to connect with who we are and why we are here. Spirituality is the factory floor where we weave our living with universal fabric to become an integral part of the cosmic design. Remember, being what you are is the only path to becoming our own supreme self and in bliss; otherwise our life is just an aberration – a wrong stitch in time.” – V.E.D (From Thought Of the Week)

The Spiritual Spark

In the beginning there was a spark (some people call it The Big Bang) and the universe came into existence. There was another spark and from inert molecules like carbon, hydrogen, oxygen etc. a living cell formed in the deepest depth of ocean, millions of years ago. Now here onwards for the journey of mankind on earth, the ‘Theory of Evolution’ takes the credit.  Yet I believe that behind the evolution from the first living cell to modern mankind, there were few more sparks. For example the spark, which pushed a living organism out of the ocean to the dry grounds. Another such spark gave development of mind a boost towards developing larger brain and the frontal lobe. Neanderthals did not survive the onslaught of the ‘survival of the fittest’, as they probably did not get that spark of change, but our ancestors did. So here we are, as a result of many pushes through the catalytic sparks in being what we are today.  

At Triveni Ghat - Rishikesh

Though these mysterious sparks are not defined or explained by the Scientists or by the ‘theory of evolution’, still we cannot jump on to the bandwagon of creationists too (who believe that everything was created by a Creator). It will, inevitably, lead to the question of ‘who created the Creator’. But one thing I am getting close to accepting is that there has to be something beyond our genes, DNA and our conscious and logical mind.

 

Chaos across the river of life - Rishikesh

There is some reason for all this to happen in such timed perfection. There is a reason for us to be here. There is some cosmic design to fulfill. There is some way it’s all connected. And we feel it, every time we experience a moment of blissful happiness. We feel that connection, every time we do something good for people around us. We feel it every time we hug our kids, friends, family, or fall in love.  Reaching out to that fleeting connection and sustaining it for longer duration within your inner self, is what I believe is being spiritual.

The beauty of this connection is that it’s not ‘one-way’ street. If the search within is strong enough and sustained, you also receive happiness, insights, enlightenment and your ‘reason for being’, from the collective source of universal consciousness that is all around us. That I believe is my spirituality in a nutshell.

 

There are many ways to cross the river of life, but we do need to find
the right way... Ganges in Rishikesh

SørenKierkegaard, a great philosopher said once, “People are so smart that we actually come to realize that we exist”. The problem with this kind of “being smart” is that we bind ourselves with logic and reason, whereas there are things around life, truth, reality, beauty and us; for which we really don’t have the tools to understand yet. We are still not smart enough to understand things beyond time, big bang, quantum particles likes Higgs boson, speed of light etc. We are still groping in the dark about things hidden within our own physical mind like our own consciousness. And I believe, given the lack of scientific understanding in our present generation, spirituality can be a better tool to understand things like ‘who am I’, ‘Why we are here’, ‘The supreme consciousness’ etc.

Some yoginis at Paatanjali Yogpeeth Ashram - Haridwar

We just need to open ourselves to connect within to reach out to that universal cloud computing resource and download the road map to happiness.

Hope you have enjoyed this long discussion and the images I have captured across the spiritual landscape. Do let me know if you have some thoughts about it.

__

Shashi

ॐ नमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivaya

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Purpose of Life - Existentialism              3 weeks of transformation   "FLORA"

TALKING POINT: Is Human Nature Basically Selfish?

The first time I read Sigmund Freud, almost two decades back, I was not able to relate to it. The repeat reading of the same ideas and ideologies through Brenner, in such a beautiful and simple way which basically sank deeper in my psyche, got me closer to the thoughts and ideas Sigmund Freud promulgated. And it created within me a view that Human beings are basically made up of two basic drives i. e. the SEXUAL and the AGRESSIVE.(Freud 1920).  So yet again, thoughts of Sigmund Freud, some of them given below, I was not able to relate to, or digest in totality...

Freud Sofa for his patients
(Wikipedia Image)

1) In 'Beyond the Pleasure Principle' Freud proposed to account for the instinctual aspects of mental lives by ASSUMING the existence of two drives, the SEXUAL and the AGRESSIVE. (Freud 1920) 

2) Sigmund Freud pointed out that the person whom the child is attached in its early years has a place in its mental life which is unique as far as influence is concerned. This is true whether the child's attachment to these persons is by bonds of LOVE, of HATE, or both, THE LAST BEING BY FAR THE MOST USUAL.

The act of birth is the first experience of anxiety,
and thus the source and prototype of the affect of anxiety. 
(Sicilian triskelion)Image from Wikipedia

3) Freud discovered rather early that there were regularly present in the unconscious mental lives of his NEUROTIC patients fantasies of incest with parent of the opposite sex, combined with jealousy and MURDEROUS rage against the parents of the same sex (Pg 105 - The Psychic Apparatus Chap V) and goes on to say (1910-15) that it became  apparent that Oedipus complex was not just characteristic of the unconscious mental life of neurotics, but was on the contrary present in the normal person as well.

4) Oedipus complex (this is the period from 2 and Half years to 6 years as per Freud) is a twofold attitude towards both parents: on the one hand a wish to ELIMINATE the jealously hated father and take his place in a SENSUAL relationship with the mother, and on the other hand a wish to ELIMINATE the jealously hated mother and take her place with father.... the most important single fact to bear in the mind about the oedipal complex is the strength and force of the feelings which are involved. Its real LOVE AFFAIR.  For many people its the most intense affair of the entire lives, but in any case as intense as any which the individual will ever experience.

John Haidt (A professor of psychology whose research focuses on the psychological bases of morality across different cultures and political ideology, in one of the most interesting discussion on the subject, I could actually find on the YouTube, says



“For 40 years, evolutionary theorist has told that human nature is basically selfish. Many people knew in their hearts that it’s not true, few of them has been as eloquent as His Holiness Dalai Lama, in arguing for different concepts of human nature. In 'Ethics for new millennium', His Holiness writes that the basic human nature is not only non-violent but actually disposed towards love and compassion, kindness, gentleness and affectionate. Recent research in evolution theory finds that co-operation is infact a basic principle in evolution.

In that same discussion Antonio Damasio, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Southern California, where he heads USC's Brain and Creativity Institute, puts across his thoughts about the subject, so beautifully, to begin with by sharing 3 facts to known to our modern scientific community presently...

Fact No: 1) Social behaviour - Social emotions, which is one of the main categories of emotions, are natural carriers of morals & ethics.

Fact No: 2) Its quite likely that when we talk about social emotions in general, we talk about sets of behavior & strategies that were planted in mammalian brain by genomes, even if they can certainly be tuned by learning, specially in humans.

Fact No: 3) Adult neurological patients, when they sustain damage to a confined part in the frontal lobe - a very specific part, they are not able to use social conventions or obey ethical rules, although they retain knowledge about that social conventions and those ethical rules. Worse, when the comparable damage occurs in the early years of life, e.g. children up to the age of 3-4, it so happens that not only that resulting in abnormal moral behaviour, but the children are (also) unable to learn the convention and rules to begin with. So in both the adults and in children, the most blatant sign outside their impaired moral behaviour is actually a lack of social emotion (because of the damage to a particular section of the brain) - That should be a food for thought.

And Professor Domasio, goes on to say ...

"The biological function that best captures what is going on (in) moral behaviour is truly Homeostasis - in plain terms the life regulation. I would like to say there are two kind of Homeostasis, 1) the very basic given by our genomes, that ensures the welfare of the self & next of kin & rarely does it even ever go beyond socio cultural. 2) Homeostasis that developed because human brains were able to generate cultures, once they were emerging a collective of other human beings & then in those collective cultures, it was possible to reflect on moral knowledge and it was possible to structure that moral knowledge in such a way that it would result not only to the benefit of the immediate self and of the next of kin but also to others further away to the larger circle of humans".

An American biologist Edward Osborne Wilson known as "the father of socio-biology" says...

"Although much human diversity in behaviour is culturally influenced, some has been shown to be genetic - rapid acquisition of language, human unpredictability, hypertrophy (extreme growth of pre-existing social structures), altruism and religions."

Wilson, along with Bert Hölldobler, has done a systematic study of ants and ant behaviour, culminating in their encyclopaedic work, The Ants (1990). "Because much self-sacrificing behaviour on the part of individual ants can be explained on the basis of their genetic interests in the survival of the sisters, with whom they share 75% of their genes (though the actual case is some species' queens mate with multiple males and therefore some workers in a colony would only be 25% related)"

He  further argues that culture and rituals are products, not parts, of human nature. He says art is not part of human nature, but our appreciation of art is. He argues that concepts such as art appreciation, fear of snakes, or the incest taboo (Westermarck effect) can be studied using scientific methods. Previously, these phenomena were only part of psychological, sociological, or anthropological studies.

Here is a little back ground on the study, mentioned above, known as ...

Westermarck Effect

Edvard Alexander Westermarck 
A Finnish philosopher and sociologist, among other subjects, studied exogamy and the incest taboo. The phenomenon of reverse sexual imprinting (when two people live in close domestic proximity during the first few years in the life of either one, both are desensitized to later close sexual attraction), now known as the Westermarck effect, was first formally described by him in his book The History of Human Marriage (1891). Observations interpreted as evidence for the Westermarck effect have since been made in many places and cultures, including in the Israeli kibbutz system, and the Chinese Shim-pua marriage customs, as well as in biological-related families.

In the case of the Israeli kibbutzim (collective farms), children were reared somewhat communally in peer groups, based on age, not biological relation. A study of the marriage patterns of these children later in life revealed that out of the nearly 3,000 marriages that occurred across the kibbutz system, only fourteen were between children from the same peer group. Of those fourteen, none had been reared together during the first six years of life. This result suggests that the Westermarck effect operates during the period from birth to the age of six.

Finally...

Freud argued that as children, members of the same family naturally lust for one another, making it necessary for societies to create incest taboos, but Westermarck argued the reverse, that the taboos themselves arise naturally as products of innate attitudes.

Steven Pinker wrote on the subject:

"The idea that boys want to sleep with their mothers strikes most men as the silliest thing they have ever heard. Obviously, it did not seem so to Freud, who wrote that as a boy he once had an erotic reaction to watching his mother dressing. But Freud had a wet nurse, and may not have experienced the early intimacy that would have tipped off his perceptual system that Mrs. Freud was his mother. The Westermarck theory has out-Freuded Freud."

—Steven Pinker, How the Mind Works

What do I think?

I have searched long and hard in my own conscience, the way Freud did in his later years, to find that miniscule hint of that person, hidden within the folds of my ID, Ego and Super Ego, who would be sexually aroused by mother, who would be detesting father, or trying to kill my siblings for that extra chocolate. But have not found even slightest hint.

I firmly believe in the goodness of human being. And I feel that is the reason, the humanity has survived many upheavals, catastrophic changes and adversity on many fronts, despite being, as some say, the most weak animal form to roam the planet earth. In my opinion, Human nature at its core is positive and good.

What do you think?

_____________
ॐ नमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivaya

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'LOVE – The most powerful brain system'

TALKING POINT: Gandhi Ji's speech about God and faith at Kingsley Hall - London 1931

It was great to hear Gandhi Ji’s voice and the clarity of his conviction first hand. His simple ideas in trying to prove the existence of God in one word – Simple but then somehow one feels that it’s also true. I liked this talk because of his voice which transported me to the era, where our freedom of India was born. Below is the transcription of the talk.

Transcription of the Talk

There is an indefinable mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it, though I do not see it. It is this unseen power which makes itself felt and yet defies all proof because it is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the senses.

But it is possible to reason out the existence of god to an unintelligible exchange. Even in ordinary affairs we know that people do not know who rules, or why, and how he rules. And yet they know that there is a power that certainly rules.

In my tour last year in Mysore I met many poor villagers and I found upon inquiry that they did not know who ruled Mysore. They simple said some god ruled it. If the knowledge of these poor people was so limited about their ruler, I, who am infinitely lesser in respect to god than they to their ruler need not be surprised if I do not realize the presence of god, the king of kings.

Nevertheless I do feel as the poor villagers felt about Mysore, that there is orderliness in the universe. There is an unalterable law governing everything and every being that exists or lives. It is not a blind law, for no blind law can govern the conduct of living beings. And thanks to the marvellous researches of Sir J.C. Bose, it can now be proved that even matter is life.

That law then which governs all life is god. Law and the lawgiver are one. I may not deny the law or the lawgiver because I know so little about it or him, just as my denial or ignorance of the existence of an earthly power will avail me nothing. Even so, my denial of god and his law will not liberate me from its operation. Whereas, humble and mute acceptance of divine authority makes life’s journey easier even as the acceptance of earthly rule makes life under it easier.

I do dimly perceive that whilst everything around me is ever changing, ever dying; there is underlying all that change a living power that is changeless, that holds all together; that creates, dissolves, and recreates. That informing power of spirit is god. And since nothing else that I see merely through the senses can or will persist, he alone is.

And if this power is benevolent or malevolent, I see it as purely benevolent. For, I can see that in the midst of death, life persists. In the midst of untruth, truth persists. In the midst of darkness, light persists. Hence I gather that god is life, truth, light. He is love. He is the supreme good. But, he is no god who merely satisfies the intellect, if he ever does. God to be God must rule the heart and transform it. He must express himself in ever smallest act of his goodness. This can only be done through a definite realization more real than the five senses can ever prove use.

Sense perceptions can be and often are false and deceptive however real they may appear to us. Where there is realization outside the senses it is inferable, it is proved not by extreme extraneous evidence, but in the transformed conduct and character of those who have felt the real presence of god within. Such testimony is to be found in the experiences of an unbroken line of prophets and sages in all countries and climes. To reject this evidence is to deny oneself. This realization is preceded by an immovable faith. He who would in his own person, test the fact of god’s presence can do so by a living faith.

And since faith itself cannot be proved by extraneous evidence, the safest course is to believe in the moral government of the world and therefore in the supremacy of the moral law, the law of truth and love. Exercise of faiths will be the safest where there is the clear determination summarily to reject all that is contrary to truth and love.

I confess that I have no argument to convince through reason. Faith transcends reason. All that I can advise is not to attempt the impossible.
__________________________

Transcript Curtsy: Amartya who posted this at his blog, click here to read his posting...

ॐ नमः शिवाय 
Om Namah Shivaya

READER : OSHO on Patanjali's Yoga Sutra - Secrets of Yoga

I have been hearing about OSHO and his charismatic talks as well as unique approach to sexuality, religion and spirituality since decades but never had the urge to read his transcription of talks (He never wrote any book, he gave talks that his disciples and followers made into books). Though I have been to Poona many times but never did enter his ashram (A- It was procedure driven and takes time, and I was always on business trip to the city, so never had the time; B- Never could relate to his thoughts at inner level; C- It was more geared up towards western followers, so it was a big put off for me) but as I have read Patanjali’s ‘Yoga Sutra’ (To read my feature on the same, please click here... ) and when this book “Secrets of Yoga” based on the talks by OSHO on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, appeared in one of my searches for books to read, I decided to read it and understand the thoughts behind the man, whose followers called him “Bhagwan Rajneesh” – God Rajneesh.

I liked some of his explanation and some were just geared up towards western followers so it was a mixed feeling but one thing that did come through reading the book, was that he has a different point of view – sometimes not very comfortable, some time outrageous but sometimes carried gem of thought within that touched me. One thing that did stand out was his palpable aversion to the present common Indian religious doctrine that is prevalent in India at the superficial level. So here is my gist from the book, thoughts that I liked and sometimes did not.

But before getting into the book, let me give you a brief biography of Chandra Mohan Jain also known as Bhagwan Rajneesh.

Brief Biography

Curtsey - Wikipedia

Osho, born Chandra Mohan Jain (11 December 1931 – 19 January 1990), also known as Acharya Rajneesh from the 1960s onwards, as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during the 1970s and 1980s and as Osho from 1989, was an Indian mystic, guru, and spiritual teacher who garnered an international following.

A professor of philosophy, he travelled throughout India in the 1960s as a public speaker. His outspoken criticism of socialism, Mahatma Gandhi and institutionalised religion made him controversial. He also advocated a more open attitude towards sexuality, a stance that earned him the sobriquet "sex guru" in the Indian and later international press. In 1970, he settled for a while in Bombay. He began initiating disciples (known as neo-sannyasins) and took on the role of a spiritual teacher. In his discourses, he reinterpreted writings of religious traditions, mystics, and philosophers from around the world. Moving to Poona in 1974, he established an ashram that attracted increasing numbers of Westerners.

In 1981, Osho relocated to the United States and his followers established an intentional community, later known as Rajneeshpuram, in the state of Oregon. Within a year the leadership of the commune became embroiled in a conflict with local residents, primarily over land use, which was marked by hostility on both sides. Osho's large collection of Rolls-Royce automobiles was also notorious. He was deported from the United States in accordance with a plea bargain. Twenty-one countries denied him entry, causing Osho to travel the world before returning to Poona, where he died in 1990. His ashram is today known as the Osho International Meditation Resort.

His syncretic teachings emphasise the importance of meditation, awareness, love, celebration, courage, creativity and humour—qualities that he viewed as being suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious tradition and socialisation. His teachings have had a notable impact on Western New Age thought, and their popularity has increased markedly since his death.

NOW HERE IS MY SELECTION OF THOUGHTS FROM THE BOOK

Osho – Secrets of Yoga

Patanjali needs great attention because there are very, very rare people who can be compared to the height of Patanjali, to his scientific attitude. He has made religion almost a science. He has brought religion out of all mystifications, but the interpretations have been trying to force all his sutras back again into the world of mystifications. That is a vested interest.

Secrets of Death and Karma

Death is of ego. If the ego exists, death exists. The moment the ego disappears, death disappears. You are not going to die, remember; but if you think you are, you are going to die.

The ego knows emptiness, it’s always unfulfilled. By the very nature, by its very intrinsic nature, it cannot attain fulfillment.

Sutra is a very condensed thing. A sutra is like a seed. You have to accept it deep down in your heart; your heart has to become a soil for it. Then it sprouts, and then the meaning.

A sutra is a seed. Intellectually, it’s very easy to understand it. Existentially, to attain to its meaning is arduous. That’s what Patanjali would like everyone to understand from...

Buddha is right when he says, ‘If you can see death, death will not be able to see you.’ Because the moment you see death you have transcended death.

Death is a God given gift. It’s a great opportunity to pass through. It can become a breakthrough: if you can die alert, conscious, and aware, you will never be born again – and there will be no death anymore.

The whole life is nothing but a learning about death, a preparation for death.

The sex act is a very minor death: and one who can achieve deep orgasm is one who allows himself to die in love.

Death is the greatest orgasm there is.

Religion is the search for the deathless, but that deathless is possible only through the door of death.

Types of Karma :

Sanchit – the total of all your past lives.

Prarabdha- the part of sanchit that you have to full fil in this life, which has to be worked out in this life.

Kriyaman – Day to day karma

Too much change erodes your being, splits you. Hence the eastern insistence to create a love in which you can remain for a longer period (if not a life time) as long as possible.

Each moment there are millions of opportunities to see God but you are not there. He comes and knocks at your door, but you are noth there, you are never found there. You go on roaming around the world. This roaming as to be stopped; that is what is the meaning of dharma. Dharana is the first step of the great synthesis of samyama

People like Patanjali are so cautious; they have to be cautious because of you. First he tells how to attain to samyama; immediately he talks about compassion and friendliness; then talks about power. Because if you have compassion then power cannot be misused

In yoga terminology, man is in a subtle way a small universe, condensed into a small existence.

Becoming is dreaming; being is truth

Whenever you fight, the ego cannot be transcended, because the ego lives by fight, struggle. So by overcoming, ego is never overcome. The more you will try, the more you will become egoist. Of course now your ego will be religious, holy pious. And remember whenever your ego becomes pious it becomes more subtle and more dangerous – it’s purified poison.

The Indians have become like parrots; they go on repeating without understanding, because if you understand then there is no need for any Bhagwat Gita. Your own divine song arises; you start your own singing.

All Indians, almost all, have become imitators; they have false faces, masks. And they go on thinking the country is very religious. It’s not: it’s one of the most cunning countries in the world.

Samyama can be described because samyama is the method. Enlightenment cannot be described. It happens out of samyama.

Enlightenment is like love: if you have fallen in love, you know what it is, but if somebody asks what is love, you will get puzzled.

Men can have one orgasm at a time, women can have multiple orgasms. A man can make love to only one woman at a time; a woman can make love to as many people as she wants. If a woman is allowed total freedom, no man will be adequate eough to satisfy her – no man.

Sex energy gives you life. The more you use sex energy, the more death comes closer. Hence, yogis become so afraid of releasing sex energy.

Each centre (chakra) is a star in your inner sky, and each centre has to be known and you have to bring your samyama on it, because it has many mysteries hidden behind it. It will reveal them to you. You are a great book – the greatest – unless you read yourself, all reading is useless.

Except your awareness, everything is constantly moving. Once you this witness, you will be able to see how fast everything else is moving.

When consciousness is perfect, breathing almost stops. But don’t be worried; that is not death. That is simply stillness. The whole effort of you is to bring you to such stillness that it cannot be broken by anything, to such a state of consciousness that cannot be disturbed.

The whole effort (of yoga) is how to find the permanent, how to find the one behind many, how to find the unmoving behind all the changes, the flux – how to find the deathless, how to find the beyond. Your habits will create trouble because you have lived with wrong habits for so long.

Your mind is conditioned for wrong habits – you always divide. Your whole intellect has been trained to divide and dissect and make many out of one. Mans lived up to now through the intellect, and he has forgotten how to put them together.

Science has come to discover the atom, and yoga came to discover Atma (Soul); Atom means minutest, and atma means biggest. Yoga came to know the whole and to realise total....

Man means mind

Ego is nothing but the false substitute for the self.

The problem is not with Mansoor, Krishna or Jesus, (Who declared themselves as God) the problem is with you. You cannot understand the language of no Ego. They just said what was truth...

We understand the language that we have lived up to now.

An enlightened person is the one who knows who he is, so there is no need to carry false identity.

When you love – if you have ever loved – you are not lover, you become love.

When you see a flower, you don’t say it’s beautiful, there is no need – it’s beautiful without you saying so. You don’t add any more beauty to it by saying so. So what is the point.

Once you are in tune with your inner man and woman, suddenly you are in tune with others also. That is what Patanjali’s whole effort is: how to transform the Solar energy (masculine) into lunar energy (feminine). And then how to be a witness to both: meeting, merging, becoming one: how to be transcendental to them.

A holy man has no mind

However virtuous, the mind remains unholy because the mind can not be whole.

It’s not that you breathe,; on the contrary, the whole breathes you.

Drop memories and imagination. Be here now

The meeting of Sun and Moon

Matter is the beginning, God the end. Man is the bridge: matter passes through amn and is transformed into God.... God is evolving through you; God is becoming through you.

Yoga has mapped the whole journey, the whole pilgrimage of man; from sex to Samadhi, from lowest centre, muladhar to the highest centre, the very peak, the pinnacle of evolution, the sahasrar.

Whenever there is light things are separate and then comes the darkness of the night and everything disappears –  the separation. Everything is one.

When science and poetry meet, then a perfect world is possible. Otherwise, intellect goes on condemning intuition; intuition goes on condemning intellect.

Man is yet a form without content. The content has to be achieved, the great alchemy has to be achieved. ... you have to bring your energy from the Muladhar , from the sex centre, upward to sahasrar

YOU CANNOT CORNER A MAD MAN

A Buddha is not a man who has all answers; A Buddha is a a man who has no questions.

Love is food for intuition. If you are not loved, your intuition will not develop.

Avoid and escape from anybody who is on any ego trip because the possibility is he will give you some infection or the other.

Laughter is so spiritual. Nothing like it. When you laugh deeply all tension disappears.

When you become enlightened, there is no need to say anything about it. You will not really be able to say anything; all yuour thinking will stop. It is so tremendously silent. And it has such absolute authority that there is no need to ask anybody.

BEYOND THE ERROR OF EXPERIENCING

And to be desireless of the other is to attain to your pristine clarity of being. Then you are, and you are the whole, and there exists nobody except you. This Patanjali calls Kaivalya.

And the way, the path, toward Kaivalya is: first, the most essential step, vivek, discrimination; the second important step is vairagya, renunciation; and the third is the realisation of kaivalya, aloneness.

The spiritual is only a realisation of pure awareness, purush.

In Patanjali, God is absolute, pure presence. He does not do anything, but by His presence, things happen – the prakriti, the nature, starts dancing.

When one person dies, only one reflection dies. But the one who is being reflected remains undying; it is deathless.

Thinking is just dreaming logically, it is creating verbal; palaces; and sometimes one can get caught so much in the verbal, then one completely forgets the real. The verbal is just reflection.

What Buddha says is reflection, what Patanjali says is a reflection, what I am saying is reflection; don’t get caught in it. If the reflection is so beautiful, try reality.

Women are more intuitive; they live by hunches, they suddenly jump to conclusions – that is why it’s very difficult to argue with a woman – she has already arrived at the conclusion, argument is not needed.

You are looking at me; your eyes are just the holes in the body, but you the seer inside. If you can get out of the body, the same will happen as will happen if you can open the door and can come out in the open sky.

Yoga says come out, get out, go beyond. Get out of these holes, and you will become all knowing, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. This is pratibha.

The real seeker goes on sacrificing whatsoever he attains, and he remains always empty of attainment. That is spirituality: to remain always empty of attainment, and whatever comes by the way, one goes on sacrificing it.

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO LAUGH TWICE

Just watch and in watching, one, suddenly the consciousness takes a shift, changes, a Radical change – from the object, suddenly, it starts focussing on the subject, if you are a watcher. In that moment you know that you are not the mind.

There is no technique of awareness. You have to be aware to be aware.

What is the technique of love? You have to love to know what love is.

‘Seeing it’ is something which has nothing to do with the mind.

(In deep danger) the mind is put aside and you function out of no-mind, you function out of your being.

Your being can exist without the mind; there is no necessity for the mind to be there. Its just a structure that is useful in the society, but don’t get too fixated with the structure. Remain loose so that you can slip out of it. It’s difficult but if you start doing it, by and by, you will be able to.

The failure (failure to quit smoking, dieting etc) becomes permanent thing in you. By and by you start becoming driftwood; you say, ‘I cannot do anything.’ And if you feel you cannot do, then who can do.

Mind lives on your energy, it lives on your failure; it lives on your defeated self, defeated will.

You rather the silent and listen; in silence, there is no-mind. In small gaps, when there is no word, there is no-mind. Mind is absolutely linguistic – its language. So start slipping into the gaps. Sometimes just see, as if you are an idiot. Not thinking, just seeing.

If you can sit for one hour like an idiot every day, you will attain (enlightenment)

In that utter silence, one comes to perfection, to the very peak of life, of existence.

If you are really doing well, no encouragement is needed... the need arises because of an inner ambiguity, an inner confusion, an inner vagueness, an inner uncertainty.

All encouragement, all inspiration, is dangerous – it puffs you up. The ego enjoys it very much, but ego is your illness, your disease. You don’t need encouragement; you need understanding, you need clarity to see.

There is no need to compete with anybody; there is no need to prove anything. You are already proved! You are there; the existence has accepted you, given you birth. God has already made an abode in you. What more you need?

Zen is very pure; eyes filled with doctrine miss it. Zen is so pure that even a single word arise in your mind and you miss it. Zen is an indication.

Zen people are sincere but no serious: sometimes so sincere that they look almost profane.

TO KNOW WHAT IS

Nietzsche declared that God is dead and man is free now, but infact once God is dead and man is not there.. Then man is just matter, nothing more explainable, is a mystery no more, has depth no more, has infinity no more, and has meaning no more, significance no more, is just an accident – has appeared accidently, will disappear accidently.

If Nietzsche comes back, he will not be able to believe what has happened; the more the scientific mind penetrated into matter, the more it came to know that matter does not exist. God Survived, matter died....

The deeper scientific penetration became, the deeper they came to understand that it is energy not matter.

Unless you come to know prana within yourself, you will not be able to know what God is. And if you cannot know it within yourself, you can no know it without, because within you it is so close.

If you go within, you have found the shortest route to know what is.

If I say I am God, it becomes an offence. I am simply saying that you can also become Gods, never settle for less. But you feel offended. And you are living only 2% of your possibilities; 98% are being wasted.

If you can blaze to your utmost, you become God.

When your prana flowers, you are God. Right now, your prana is just crawling the earth – not even standing or walking.

If you come across Buddhahood; you will only see his body. Because you can see only that which you are, you cannot see anything more. You are your confinement.

Don’t crawl; stand up. Upanishads say,’Uttishtha jagarat prapya varnanni bodhayat’ – Stand up; become aware, because to become aware is the only way to stand up, to rise and soar high.

The cause of bonding is identification... ‘if you can loosen it a little, relax it a little, if you can uproot yourself from your body and mind, you will attain to a very great experience; and that experience is: you can enter into another’s body.

God comes at the moment of absolute, utter sacrifice.

NOWHERE TO GO

I want to take all the paths away. Pathless, not knowing where to go, you will go in. If all your paths – all the possibilities to escape from yourself – are taken away, what will you to? You will be yourself.

Competition is one of the most irreligious thing in the world. But that’s what everybody is doing.

Your whole enjoyment is always just comparative... you are alone, tremendously alone. You are unique, you are alone, you are one; and there is nobody else there to be compared with.

___________

ॐ नमः शिवाय 

Om Namah Shivaya

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The secret of Chaos