On Ignorance, Fear and Desire

Be aware that whatever happens, happens to you, by you, through you, that you are the creator, enjoyer and destroyer of all you perceive and you will not be afraid. Unafraid, you will not be unhappy, nor will you seek happiness.

In the mirror of your mind all kinds of pictures appear and disappear. Knowing that they are entirely your own creations, watch them silently come and go, be alert, but not perturbed. This attitude of silent observation is the very foundation of Yoga. You see the picture, but you are not the picture.

~ Nisargadatta

These words of an enlightened one do not 'contain' the truth in them, but the truth contains these words. A master is a living embodiment of the truth, which itself is unspeakable but can be pointed towards- for the disciples to discover it in themselves. The truth is thus universal and individual at the same time. One cannot misappropriate the understanding of an enlightened being but one is enabled with certain 'data' needed for the exploration within himself. Not within his mind but within his 'presence'. 

Now, our understanding so far has been like- the situations happening around us determine the state of our mind. The perception is such that certain situation is causing me pain, or certain people make me irritated, or there are some activities in which I find pleasure and so on. But in reality, there is a certain 'data' that has already been crystallized in our 'common presence' which determines our reactions to every situation. There is a certain spectrum of experience we have framed for ourselves and everything happening around falls in some or the other place in that already assumed 'understanding of the world'. These 'data', what they are and how they became crystallized is another matter of exploration, but a point to note is- how to know that whatever is happening is really the way it is or I am making it up.

Now, the very interesting mess is- if one has a wrong conviction in the mind- everything happening looks exactly in concord with that conviction- for say, if one thinks that the world is a very hostile place- he gives rise to the experiences in all ways strengthening his conviction and is dragged more and more away from the truth. But to see that everything that happens is entirely your creation- there is no need of having this as your conviction-but only an impartial watchfulness is needed. In this watching, slowly the turbulence of the mind starts to slow down and a point comes of immense standstill. 

In the knowledge of this reality of the being, the fear, whatever fear one may have, of death, of separation, of failure etc, is simply and automatically dropped because one then knows that there is nothing there apart from this silent watchfulness. The mind was only like a phantom arising in the absence of the knowledge of our being. The mind has now entirely disappeared and there is only presence. No identity. Only knowing. 

And another consequence of this observation, this knowledge is - one comes to know that the desire was also a manifestation of the fear- seeking pleasure, security, future, happiness and everything- because the consciousness took  itself to be this 'person' because it was ignorant of its reality. 

A lot of effort and energy is wasted in our lives fighting the fears and desires and thus one is never fully satisfied. One cannot actually be fully satisfied because the one, the 'person' is only the consciousness, which in reality is just a presence- that was ignorant of itself.    

Thus the fear and desire are only shadows and have no place in the light of the realization of your being. 

May all beings reach their truth which is a storehouse of infinite pleasure, infinite knowledge and infinite power. 

Our infinite gratitude towards the enlightened ones, without the guidance of who, man would only travel in circles trapped in the shackles of the religions, scriptures, rituals, beliefs and disbeliefs thus never advancing towards any higher objective possibility. 

Cheers. 

The external reality around you in 'objective' sense
Is reflected on the screen of your mind creating a 'subjective' picture
You watch the external reality now through this inner 'subjective' filter

When you just 'watch' everything
'As if' in a mirror
'As a whole' and not 'dividing'

You will 'see' the mirror gets clearer and clearer
And when there is not a single particle of 'dust'
In that clarity of 'witnessing' without 'participation'
'Something' will happen

You have invested so much in the unreal
That you make a Buddha lie to you
You make him dilute the truth and seduce you towards it

Your world will be over instantaneously
If you come to know that there is only 'illusion' and 'reality' and no graduations in between
There is nothing like gold, silver, iron and less and less...
There is only diamonds and nothing
The nothing being absolutely nothing at all
Why do you still insist on admiring or even acknowledging that which is false

Your cleverness is ready with all its 'experience' and 'perspectives' and 'justifications'
To twist every pointer towards truth into unimaginable mess

There is only one thing to know
Its better to 'understand' it than to know it
Its better to 'sense' it than to understand it
Its better to 'be' it than to sense it

But you are so quick with your 'moves'
that its very hard to drop deep through that 'mesh'
When you stop 'moving'
Then you fall though that 'mesh'
Deeper
Into that

The way objects cannot describe space, thoughts cannot grasp the consciousness. The objects are IN space, and the thoughts are happening Inside the consciousness.

What is between these two objects?
That something is space.

What is between these two thoughts?
There also another kind of space.

When the attention is not on objects,
what is then aware of this space?

When the attention could be hold
at the space between two thoughts
something 'else' comes into light
in a way that everything else now comes into light of that something 'else'

That awareness which is 'aware' of the 'outer' space
when reflected inside is aware of the 'inner' space

When this awareness is sensed
The whole scene flips 180
The seed is planted

The DoorKeeper

In today's age, I am, personally, equally disappointed by the so called intellectuals apparently driven by 'reason' appropriate only to themselves and the non-intellectuals (as per the intellectuals) who claim to have an understanding beyond reason but the course of their life is nothing but accidental. Both these sides are nothing in themselves but are just senseless 'reactions' towards each other. Both of them need the 'other' to have a sense of who they themselves are. One of them has put a blindfold to the intellect and other has loaded it with enormous mess of unnecessary complexity and thus completely missed out on a possibility to undergo any transformation.
This intellect is like the door keeper of the house who thinks he is the owner himself. This intellect is only formed with the impressions and conditioning one has gone though in his life. Now the mess is that, that certain 'philosophers' who have a little 'articulated' understanding of the delusions of the people, have an inflated sense of having freed themselves of those delusions and have awarded this doorkeeper with the crown of the house master. In fact this doorkeeper, even in its wildest fantasies cannot even begin to fathom what lies inside the house and who the real master is. It has learnt so many words, more than necessary, that it has learnt to block out and reject those things which would initiate it into the process of self discovery and freedom (now some doorkeepers will tag this as 'utopia' or 'god delusion' or whatever nonsense they have simply borrowed from the 'advanced' cultures). Also, it is not entirely at fault. There is also enormous amount of nonsense that goes on in the world in the name of 'spirituality' and 'religion' that it builds the walls to have a little sense of sanity. If one aspires nothing more than earning a living and taking care of a few things, these walls are okay but if one wants to really explore something substantial, then these walls are prison walls. Seeking enlightenment though the intellect alone is a guaranteed way of everlasting bewilderment and frustration. I would like to add here the most ridiculous thing I ever came across in this context.
'The age of enlightenment' as they themselves call it was the intellectual movement in the Europe in 17-18th century based on 'reason' as the primary authority. Sigh!
It is understandable though that it has emerged as the reaction to the doctrines and dogmas of the middle ages, but one fails to recon that this is not an advancement but only a swing of the pendulum. The 'culture' with all its 'rituals' have its origin in different spiritual practices. The ones who realized the infinite possibilities of human existence, the Buddhas, gave a systematic and  scientific methods to tap into your own Buddha nature, but by time, the essence is gone and only symbols are remaining. It is the stupidity of the masses who still cling to the rituals thinking that it is going to do something for them because of their 'faith' in it. Culture is the product of the consciousness of the realized ones. But following the culture is never going to make one realize his truth. One has to tap into the consciousness,  which itself is the source of everything. But our wise ones want to completely overthrow even the possibility of their own freedom and subscribe to the other extreme of the stupidity called 'nihilism' and what not and want to gauge everything said about the mysteries of the existence with their laughable 'scientific' tools and theories.
One example that is at the top of my head- about authority. I have seen how our 'wise' ones look down upon their 'religious' brothers who are 'praying' to 'God' with a pompous, borrowed  narrative and second hand pride 'I am my own authority', 'I refuse to submit and fully take responsibility of my own actions' and what not. The doorkeeper wins again. What is being missed here is, relaxing and surrendering is not being done to something external but it is a way to bring out the underlying house master within you. Until the superficial intellectual understanding has a grip on the psyche, it is always in a state of tension and conflict and will never allow the deeper dimension to surface. The 'God' or "Devotion' etc. are only the devices to create a stillness so that the intellect can relax and the magic can happen and in no way symbols of impotency. These are the ways developed by the enlightened ones to point towards that certain something and to make one understand the design of the creation and to consciously experience the creation and the existence as yourself and not only to have a peek at it though the imaginations and theories of the intellect. 

The Open Secret

One of the simplest words I have come across which point towards the highest state of consciousness is 'paying attention to the attention' by Mooji. It is a knack, really. If one simply asks 'where is my attention right now'? At that instant, the attention has to be here. It cannot be then wandering somewhere at some objects or thoughts. It has to come back here. In that moment all the content, i.e. all the psychological activity is dropped and you become present. You discover what it is like to be just awareness. You discover the existence beyond mind. You become no mind. No mind doesn't indicate unconsciousness. It is the exact opposite. It is full consciousness. Only then you realize that being occupied with the thoughts and all the psychological activity is like being asleep, being completely mechanical. In this presence, in this no mind, in this stillness, something tremendous happens. The deeper intelligence within you awakens. This intelligence is completely dis identified from all the impressions and conditioning. All the past, all the identity, all the boundaries are dropped at once. This realm of being once touched is recognized instantly as the most original state of your existence. It is the ecstasy. The awakening. A tremendous joy which is inherent and effortless in this state upsurges. And you will find no reason for it to be there at all. You won't be even looking for a reason because you will recognize this as your home. Reality. And will come to know that how the impressions and conditioning this consciousness goes through  distort the picture of reality and people are caught in the illusion of suffering.  And as the mind activity ceases here, you do not even have to maintain the pleasant state. It is spontaneous, uninterrupted and effortless. One of the fear people have for exploring the realms beyond mind is that they might lose their sanity. However, it is not the case. When you are established in the being, there is no psychological resistance left in you anymore, no conflicting philosophies and struggle for any achievement or fear of losing. You see the situation and tackle them far more efficiently than you were doing from the mind identified state.
One who understands this secret, not just intellectually but in its true essence, one who drinks this elixir, one who awakens to his being, one who transcends his limits, enjoys the nameless ecstasies. That one smiles without being afraid of losing it. That one lives. That one loves. 

Where

Where is this sound heard?
Where is this scene seen?
Where is this fragrance smelled?
This where takes you beyond.
And the beyond comes here.
You come home
And you become the sight, the sound and the smell.