What Can Augment our Passionate Disposition towards Life?

One of the important issues to be considered in terms of deeper understanding of life is its counterpart, namely death. Many consider death as a morbid topic and avoid any discussion of it or at least show no interest in it. One of the reasons for fear of death is the ending – an ending projected by thought. Because thought is accustomed to continuity, it is unable to sense what would happen if that continuity ends. It is this uncertainty that comes up as fear. Turning away from the uncertainty is a kind of resistance to it and such refusal to look at it pushes the fear into our subconscious layers. From there it keeps sending messages through dreams and through loneliness during waking hours. This leads to psychological attachments as these attachments support the continuity of oneself through the image that one has about oneself. As a consequence, it creates images of others, gaining some comfort through the continuity sustained by interaction with those images. Thus a false base is created to feel safe and the fear of death is pushed under the carpet. However, somewhere in the deeper region, one knows it is false and so it prevents one from living fully.

Thought breeds fear, as J.Krishnamurti would often say. It is the inner transformation that can free us from the tyranny of thought. The inwardly directed movement takes us Home! That is the Home from which we came.

As we can see here, not paying attention to death affects life also, in the sense that the quality of life goes down. Living and dying are inextricably woven together and in their separation is the emergence of fear. We hear from the Masters that Truth has no continuity and that it is new from moment to moment. That is, there is a constant dying and renewal. Paying attention to death, one can move towards discovering that Truth because we then see unity in the life-death pair. In other words, attention to the content of death helps us appreciate life better.

In his book “Stillness Speaks”, Eckhart Tolle has a chapter with the title “Death and the Eternal”. His fluent presentation dwells on many esoteric items related to Death. The following lines are taken from it:

“When death is denied, life loses its depth. The possibility of knowing who we are beyond name and form, the dimension of the transcendent disappears from our lives because death is the opening into that dimension.”

In order to move on an exploratory journey into the topic of death, as for any topic, one has to set aside all preconceived notions and beliefs and come to it afresh. Therefore, consider all things that call for deeper attention in your life as hypotheses to be verified in the light of your own awareness and curiosity to find out what lies in the dark. They are meant to kindle our eagerness for exploration rather than give fixity to ideas. After all, the phenomenon of death is around us during our lifetime and it is going to be at the end of our own. When we pay attention to the content of death, we begin to unravel its mystery, at least to some extent. There is a boldness that builds up with the understanding of its content and so the fear associated with death begins to dissolve. This brings in a strange feeling of compassion towards everyone and everything that we meet in life. This is vouchsafed by those who go through a near death experience.

The site http://spirituality.yolasite.com can be a wayside companion to those who wish to explore along the above lines.

The Journey of Life – Wonderful Possibilities Open Up with the Willingness to Explore the Ride

                                                              

People tend to adopt satisfying conclusions and stay with them rather than have a free mind to explore the journey of life.  The wall they thus build around them ends up as their psychological prison.  Open minded investigation becomes impossible.

Life on this planet offers many opportunities, outwardly and inwardly. Most human beings, however, are lost in the externalization of the mind and remain unaware of their inner realms. While religious practices take us somewhat inside, they too soon become organized into activities that feed the ego.  Thus, notwithstanding the true import of religions, the mind continues to remain externalized. Then there are the meditative systems which do better than the religions, in the sense that ‘Group Fanaticism’ does not manifest in their practices. No doubt, the meditative systems put a brake on the ceaseless swirling of thoughts and thus help produce a calmer mind.  However, unfortunately, the meditative systems too feed the ego in the form of expected achievements in the spiritual realm.  It means that the ego gains ground while giving the impression that it is quitting.  This self-deception escapes notice in the vast majority of people. 

In order to understand the journey of life, we should embark on an inward journey towards the unspoiled consciousness in us. Dissolution of the externalized state of mind takes place when there is simple self-awareness.  It is a spiritual awakening not based on any man-made system.  The inward dive is not one of psychological introspection, nor is it one of intellectual analysis.   

During the inward journey, deep passivity characterizes the mental state.  Its quiet potency is observed in its ability to melt the crystal that the mind is hardened into by repetitive thought in the form of ‘I’, ‘me’ and the ‘mine’. It is something like the iceberg.  When that crystallized entity melts under sunshine and dissolves in the surrounding waters, its contents return to the source and the crystal disappears.  There are many issues in our lives that can give us a push in that direction.  They serve as guide-posts and keep us focused on the intriguing puzzle of the inward journey.  Some of these arise as questions in the following manner:

1. Why is it that, even after practicing a religious system for years, freedom from fear, attachment and hatred does not take place?   The practice only puts a lid on them and makes it appear as if they are gone.  (Smug satisfaction may be there in the thought that one’s seat in heaven is confirmed!)  

2. Why are the antagonists too – the atheists and agnostics – who put themselves against the ‘religionists’, do not find that freedom?

Both the protagonists and the antagonists of religion seem to be barking up the wrong tree!

3. Do the shocks in life point to something that we are unwilling to see or acknowledge?

4. Can the philosophical content of Death serve as an affectionate teacher?

5. What roles do light-heartedness and cheerfulness play in the inward journey?

6. Is the beckoning of sorrow in life an invitation to visit the hidden corners of ourselves?

7. Unknowingly, we build a psychological wall around us through self-importance.  Are there pointers in our daily life that can alert us to that fact and, perhaps, open a door in that wall?

A strange self-awareness begins to settle in us as we apply ourselves to these puzzles.   A natural tenderness towards everyone and everything becomes a concomitant factor. The book entitled “IN QUEST OF THE DEEPER SELF - A Joyous Adventure” can be a wayside companion to those who find the above puzzles interesting. Details of the book can be found in http://spirituality.yolasite.com .  The author may be contacted at gopal.tc@gmail.com

Coupling Practical Wisdom with Spiritual Advancement – A Comprehensive Harmony

Paying attention to wise instructions with regard to practical matters is part of good living. In the area of spirituality, however, freeing oneself of all Dos and Don’ts is necessary as it prevents the ego from getting a chance to have its ways. 

In a truly spiritual life importance is given as much to mundane matters as it is to the vaster consciousness.  Understanding the consciousness beyond the conventional neurology cannot come through following a set of instructions.  It needs patient application in the form of intuitive awareness of what lies beyond the apparent.  So, in the field of spiritual advancement, Dos and Don’ts, acquisition of verbal knowledge and so on cannot go very far.  However, those can help us lead our daily life with practical wisdom.       

Here we look into five items that can be instrumental in our keeping cool and going about our life with confidence and equanimity.  Once we begin to show interest in leading a vibrant life, the five items are likely to manifest themselves in our psychology without our effort. 

The Five Wise Items

Delegate and Relegate.

Sincere application to practical matters on hand, setting apart (‘delegate’) proper attention and time to them, followed by unconcern (‘relegate’) is what is implied in this. The important thing here is the ‘relegating’ part which can relieve the mind of unnecessary burden through the habit of thought.

Reflect and Reject.

Items that emotionally disturb the mind deserve this kind of treatment.  It involves calm reflection and understanding what requires to be done practically, followed by rejection in the sense of not letting the thought vortices demand our attention with regard the issue.  Again, this prevents the mind from feeding on the item repeatedly as a matter of habitual neurology.

Accept and Act.

It is good to accept people and things as they are and adapt oneself to them.  This    prevents rancor building up in us and helps us develop rapport with life, no matter what it chooses to bring. Soon this accepting and adapting oneself to life becomes a source of peace.  Acceptance is to be followed by action to see how matters can be improved, where necessary.  A positive, constructive and optimistic approach is always healthy.

Weave it and Leave it.

Well-meaning aspirations - molded, fostered and kept clean (not sullied by thought) - set up a healthy current in one’s life. Such aspirations will be fulfilled on their own chronological time.  The usual problem is the psychological time that corrupts the mind.  If we understand what it means to wait without knowing when, it will be wonderful.  In fact, there is then no waiting in the conventional sense of the word.  This takes away the poison of psychological time.  Once the aspirations are lovingly woven in a wholesome way in the interest of oneself and others, it is good to drop them into the bottomless abyss.  They will sprout at the right time!  

Unconditionally Unload, Unfold and so Explode!                 Understanding this item requires self-awareness to the point of sensing how the habitual thought process accumulates poisonous garbage. Attention to this matter leads to unloading of all such garbage that would otherwise set up harmful offshoots in due course. Because of this unloading and the consequent clearing, Divine Essence unfolds from one’s deeper region submerging one in a state of progressive calmness. It furthers itself, making our consciousness expand limitlessly. That is the explosion. So, it is a matter of implosion followed by explosion.  In that respect, it resembles a stupendous astronomical phenomenon, the Supernova!

Related matters are covered in the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com

The Test on Spiritual Transformation

Many people who have sworn allegiance to some religious system talk of religion and spirituality as though they are the same thing.  It would be a pity if it were to be so because, while religions are sectarian in practice, true spirituality is universal.  It cannot be the monopoly of any group nor can it have anything to do with events in history because it is beyond time.  Unfortunately, the religious people want to wrap up spirituality into their fold not knowing that sectarian religious practices are essentially a matter of conditioned response while spirituality is beyond all that.  It is rather obvious that sectarian religions and spirituality are mutually exclusive.

Sectarian approaches are inevitably tied up with beliefs and system-oriented practices.  Except in the cases of philosophically oriented religions, the system expects rigid conformity and no questioning is allowed.  If somebody were to point out any inconsistency in the system, he or she will be ostracized from that community.  Emotional attachment to the system is expected. For that very reason, creating enemies of the other groups becomes inevitable.  Can all these be ever part of a true spirituality which can move us towards the Truth? 

The spiritually oriented person understands the corruption that thought plays in one's attempt to find shelter in a system which promises grandiose things through conformity.  He or she moves away from looking for a psychologically comforting system and applies oneself to understanding the hidden harmony behind the apparent chaos.  That is what moves them towards sensing Truth, Divinity or what one may call the Ultimate.  Beliefs and disbelief do not attract them because they see the meaning behind the adage "One believes what one wants to believe."           

Sectarian religious practices do not bring about any transformation in the psychology of the adherents.  Practicing the religion for 30 or 40 years only increases their dependence on and expectation from God, so the 'I' remains intact.  If their religion is criticized, they would feel hurt and may even react violently to the criticism, indicating that the practice has only served to intensify their ego.  If such practices are truly spiritual, the opposite would be the case.  These are elementary facts, but millions upon millions of people do not want to acknowledge those facts, because they fall a prey to the two essential demands of the ego: satisfaction and security.  The sectarian religious practices provide them.  The adherents would rather be with satisfying illusions than question their own conditioned response and the harm it does to themselves and humanity.             

Inner freedom is possible only for those who are willing to move away from dogmatic religious practices and the egoism they support.  Then, there is the possibility of imbibing pure self-awareness untouched by man-made influences.  There lies the greatness of the pristine spirituality and its transformation.  You may visit the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com