Life is to be lived passionately. No reservations. No holding back.

General

The word ‘involvement’ has a spiritual content to it.  We usually find among our relatives and friends some people who understand the content and the value of that word.  In fact, every one of us does that some time or the other in our life.  The more we apply ourselves passionately to the things that we truly like, the more we truly live.

However, it may be quite appropriately asked, “What about the terrorist?  He too is passionate about getting involved in his abominable act?”.  So, we have to add a qualifying clause here to the matter of passionate involvement.  We may say, “Apply yourself passionately to the things that you truly like but also make sure that the consequences are life-supportive and not destructive in any way to oneself or the other.”

The Near Death Experience

Those people who go through a near death experience (NDE), return with a great zeal to live, but they wouldn’t hurt even an ant, let alone harm a human being. This is because they understand the preciousness of life and its spiritual content.  After their return, they say, “Now I love life and I love death”. They see that the two are complementary and they understand non-verbally that there is great beauty in the consciousness revealed by the afterlife.      

 A Quotation

The following passage is given by Steve Goodyear in his ‘Life Support’ site http://www.lifesupportsystem.com

“An enchanting story about the talented violinist Fritz Kreisler tells how he once came across a beautiful instrument he wanted to acquire. When he finally raised the money for the violin, he returned to buy it and learned that it had already been sold to a collector.

“He went to the new owner's home in order to try to persuade him to sell the violin. But the collector said it was one of his prized possessions and he could not let it go. The disappointed Kreisler turned to leave, but then asked a favor. "May I play the instrument once more before it is consigned to silence?"

“Permission was granted and the great musician began to play. The violin sang out a quality of music so beautiful that the collector himself could only listen in wonderment. "I have no right to keep that to myself," he said after the musician finished. "The violin is yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people hear it."

A Hidden Message

The above story is an example of being passionate about something.  There is also a hidden message in the story.  It says that life has strange way of helping you when you allow your passion to flow the way it wants.  We should, of course, bear in mind the qualifying clause mentioned above. 

Related matters are covered in the book "In Quest of the Deeper Self" details of which can be found in the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com 

Peaceful Mind Through Gliding Along The Esoteric Path

Most people spend their waking hours with their minds caught up in conventional thoughts – thoughts that breed fear, anger, regret, anxiety, self-pity, loneliness etc.  Discovering the Esoteric Path takes them on to a well-ordered and useful life.

The Other Path

Endless conflicts arise due to the conventional mental state and people go on with it year after year, for many years.  The attrition by thoughts that are heavily centered on self-importance wears out the mind.  Even those who are socially successful realize, rather late in their lives, that they have been chasing a shadow all along – a very deceptive shadow at that.  Mental mediocrity sets in and there is a general dullness.  Is there a way out of all these so that one can live with a child’s freshness notwithstanding the crowding in of many negative things in life?  When people take up that question as an intriguing puzzle, they begin to discover the Esoteric Path that helps them live without mental conflicts and enjoy the freshness of wholesome living. 

Esotericism implies that we wouldn’t be carried away by social ways, nor would we be conditioned by belief systems or driven by habitual neurology.  There is a tendency to understand how the mind gets bogged down by the usual vortexes of fear, regret, anger, attachment, resentment etc.  The same tendency moves us to have insights into life (and the afterlife too!) rather than our using life merely for ego satisfaction and security.

The Transformation

Once on the Esoteric Path, people turn their attention inward and understand how the conventional thoughts bring in all the mental attrition.  The ensuing awareness is what takes them along the path of self-knowing without which one becomes a slave to the tyranny of the conventional thought stream.  They wake up to the poison of such slavery and release themselves from the stranglehold that thought has on us. Even as one functions in society, one frees oneself from falling prey to the mental pollution created thereof.  This brings in some calmness and quietude to the mind, countering the ill effects of the attrition.  The repose is somewhat like the placid waters of a still lake.  Under those conditions, just as the turbidity in the water settles down leaving the water to be clear, the mind too becomes lucid and shines like a single star in a limpid sky.  Once we get a taste of these happenings, we become increasingly interested in the still mind and its ability to make us understand the unconditional love of Divinity.  When a person who has had a Near Death Experience (NDE) speaks of the boundless compassion while being engulfed by the Light, we are in a position to sense and appreciate what that person is talking about.    

Two of the immediate effects of being on the Esoteric path are:  (1) We become empathic and begin to pay more attention to others than we normally do and (2) Begin to show interest in the messages of paranormal phenomena such as terminal visions before passing away, out-of-body experience, NDE etc.  These things bring about a natural austerity to oneself helping one to easily steer away from personal evils such as addiction to alcohol and social evils like indulging in unscrupulous methods of amassing wealth.  Consequently, there is an inward integration and the associated peaceful mind.  There would be the joy of giving and the vicarious happiness of making others happy.       

Further Reading

More about the effectiveness of the Esoteric Path is brought out in the book “In Quest of the Deeper Self”; details are given in the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com  The author can be contacted at gopal.tc@gmail.com   He would enjoy interactions with all those interested in the topic.

This Matter of 'Taking It Easy' - Why Does it Become Difficult?!

       

Often our friends and relatives tell us to 'Take it easy' when we are in difficulties or in sorrow. It is good advice, no doubt, but people may come up with the jocular statement, "Yes, but taking it easy is not easy."! It is good to explore into this matter as it would open a doorway into ourselves.

People try to reach a state of peaceful mind through practising a method or a system, religious or otherwise. If it were to happen that way, there will always be the fear of losing what is gained and so continued stress will be felt in order to retain that state. It will be a matter of constant struggle to ensure that the peace is not lost. However, many people hope that they can reach permanent peace through adopting that approach. They are unaware that the psychological 'reacher' himself is impermanent! Even though it is a simple fact, many people are unwilling to acknowledge that fact. This is because the thought created 'I' has no intrinsic substantiality and so it is constantly in fear of being dissolved. That is why it is always moving out to hold on to something giving it a feeling of permanence. The fear of death also arises from the same cause.

If  some people rebel against the established systems and style themselves as non-believers, they make the mistake of over-emphasizing the rational mind’s ability to judge.  They remain unaware of the power of intuition. So they too alienate themselves from the abiding peace that is naturally there in us.    

When one sees the truism behind the above statements, one wonders, "How then does stable peace come at all?" Stable peace is our natural state and chasing it through thought projected things is what takes us away from it. UG Krishnamurti says, "Your attempt to become peaceful is creating the disturbance." Another Master asks, "How do you find a way to the house in which you are sitting?" Obviously, every way you take would lead you away from the house. People who have come that far know that the peace reached through a thought projected goal is false. That insight helps them to be free of all chases and there is a natural self-abidance - a state of falling into oneself through non-dependence. It augments an intrinsically peaceful mind because it is not based on a projected point of success through a method or a belief system.

As of now, only a small percentage of people seems to sense the above state of affairs and have the boldness to stand alone, free from all dependence. That aloneness has a purity and the associated peace that is self-sustaining. Then we can 'Take things easy' and apply ourselves to life passionately. Evolution on this planet is bringing more and more people into that awareness, though the process seems to be very slow. The current trend in the majority is still towards relying on sectarian practices that promise peace here and heaven after death. When the trend changes into one of self-abidance through inwardly directed awareness, the society will change to be one where there is unqualified love and all-pervasive camaraderie - no segregation whatsoever through nationality, religion etc.

Now, you can take it easy because you don't have to chase anything! 

Knowing how to take things easy, we would also know the seriousness with which we have to apply ourselves to our practical responsibilities.  Reflecting on the above, you will be able to strike your own trail towards the inner self and the abiding peace that is there naturally in you – like the deep ocean waters.   Related matters are covered in the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com

                          

Development of Children – Our Role in Bringing about Holistic Life for Them.

Bringing up a child has many facets to it. Applying ourselves to them with deepened awareness can enrich our lives to the point of making it joyous for everyone. Many parents are concerned about the welfare of the child and it is mistaken for love. The concern is part of self-interest and does not reflect a feeling for the child per se. The right attention will be given to the child only when one is not using the child for one’s own ego satisfaction. Emotional attachment can harm the child and the parent. Where there is true love, there is no room for the ego to get involved.

Treating the child as a human being in its own right would mean that it is not sacrificed to a system, no matter how intelligent the system may be. Further, as J. Krishnamurti says, the child will not be conditioned to be conformists by the truly loving parents and teachers. They will see to it that the child blossoms like a flower, unimpeded. Here we note what Khalil Gibran has to say about children:

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

The school and the home are the two predominant places where the young child is exposed to the world. If there is loving atmosphere at those places, children can grow into wholesome human beings. It is to be noted that the child comes first and then its education. In other words, it is education for the child, not the other way around. In many parts of the world, this aspect is not given the vital importance that it deserves. When it does get the right attention, everything is influenced by the tender feeling towards the child. Then, we won’t overload the child with heavy syllabus and heavier books! The subjects will be taught in a succinct way so that the child catches the essence of them rather than be lost in the details. The information overloading (especially with a lot of unnecessary things) will be out.

When the atmosphere at school is on such fostering grounds, there would be no need for any punishment. Improper behavior would be minimal and they can be handled without the child feeling condemned or rejected. A few schools are coming up along those lines in India and other countries under the name of ‘Alternative Education’. They can help the child imbibe such qualities as empathy, compassion, mirthfulness, emotional stability, and respect for all cultures. There would be an adventurous attitude towards life. They would consider themselves as citizens of the world rather than be lost in some parochial narrow-mindedness; would show interest in understanding the deeper currents of life instead of emotionally clinging to belief systems looking for satisfaction and security. They can appreciate their position on this planet in a cosmological context through attention to such esoteric subjects as astronomy, anthropology and paleontology. Such children would surely bring about global harmony and augment joyous living on this planet.

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

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 Two Avenues in Life that Deserve Careful Attention

Peaceful mind comes along gradually as a result of our dedicated application to two avenues in life: The Practical and the Spiritual. Usually, there are so many disturbing influences in life that people lose heart and do not pay sufficient attention to the two avenues. However, the interesting thing about it is that once we pay attention to them, matters straighten up and give us the encouragement to be in the driver-seat of our lives. What is needed is loving application to both those avenues. It is to be noted that while the rational mind is the prime instrument in our being intelligent about the practical issues, reliance on intuition is what makes us glide along the spiritual path.

There are mainly five streams along which we can apply ourselves to the practical aspects of life. Those are: health, household, career, attention to others and, the last item, the fun things. This last item would include hobbies, games and sports. Attention to others implies understanding the needs of others (near and dear ones, colleagues, even strangers) and alleviating their unhappiness to the extent possible. The more passionately we apply ourselves to the five items the richer our life would be. We would lead a cheerful life and help others do the same. The spiritual avenue is usually guided by religious beliefs. This can be helpful but there is the danger of becoming emotionally attached to a religious system or personality. That would be counter-productive. In the absence of such identification, one moves over to the philosophic side of religions and embarks on a path of enquiry. Soon he or she understands that the spiritual deepening is not due to any accumulation of satisfying conclusions, or verbal knowledge, and that it is due to non-verbal sensing of what lies beyond the apparent. They also discover what the esoteric path is and move along it, striking their own trail. They may be helped by many, including the gurus and scriptures, but they will never swear allegiance to any system or authority, because they understand that would push them into the trap of conditioned thinking. Thus, they will know the beauty of aloneness and the passivity associated with the inner development. If we pay attention to the matters as above, we will also let our children grow as human beings unspoiled by any conditioning. Their minds would be free of fanaticism and ruthlessness and their lives would be filled with humility, compassion and dignity. Related matters are covered in the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com

The Value of Spontaneity in Holistic and Vibrant Living

The conventional neurology with which human beings live is characterized by a shield of thought between them and their lives. Such a shield is made up of the residues from the past which in turn sustains the ‘I’, the ego. This means that we are not directly in contact with life but through a corrupting interface – corrupting because everything is judged based on the self-importance of the ‘I’. Understanding the value of spontaneity can bring about a change in this unfortunate state of affairs.

Spontaneity arises out of being alive to the ‘Now’. Self-awareness forms the basis for its genesis. Understanding how the habitual shield comes in and corrupts is part of that awareness. Spontaneity cannot come through the practice of any system since all systems rely on the past and so the ‘Now’ slips by. That gives the chance for the shield to come in and let the ‘I’ rule the roost. Being a conformist sustains the slavery to a system and so blocks spontaneity from streaming in. So, if not by adopting a method, how does spontaneity come about? Applying ourselves to this puzzle brings in the required awareness and the associated clarity; the shield starts dissolving. Very soon we see freshness flowing into our lives.

Once we understand the beauty of spontaneity, there is a feeling of moving closer to the soul. We see its intrinsic ability to preclude the problem-creating tendency of the mind from indulging in its habitual ways. The mind falls quiet and a strange confidence flows in. It creates space in our minds and augments stable mental peace. Abundant feeling flows towards everyone and everything. There would be the unqualified love towards all, as reported by those who go through a near death experience.

Living with spontaneity clears away many unnecessary fears that trouble us. There is the readiness to face life without the conventional armored approach. In this connection, we are reminded of a statement by J. Krishnamurti: To be vulnerable is to live, to withdraw is to die. It helps to reflect and understand the content of that statement.

We may consider three types of couples: Type 1. They never argue, never quarrel. Type 2. These people argue, quarrel, feel hurt, don’t talk to each other for some days and then gradually come around. Type 3. This set of couples argue, quarrel but laugh it off at the end; no residues. Peace returns almost immediately.

If asked which of the three represents the healthiest kind of relationship, most people - if not all - will point to the third set of couples. This is because people know intuitively that it is the residue from an event that destroys, not the event itself. Once we understand the value of spontaneity, residues cannot form and trouble us anymore. No doubt, all these are easier said than done. Nevertheless, it is a challenge that can be interesting. Meeting it squarely helps us move into happy and vibrant living.

The New Age Spirituality is related to these matters of universal goodness and so it would not be supportive of conformism and sectarian practices. You may ponder over these matters and also let your friends and relatives reflect on them.

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