Categories
Perspectives

Just A Number

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Is Age just a number? Ask Yayati. In the story, King Yayati -after completing hundred years of life, after achieving everything material possible, was still reluctant to go with Death when it came. He instead offered death a deal. Death was given the option of taking away any of Yayati’s sons instead, in lieu of a hundred more years of life. All but one refused. The youngest one, aged seventeen, wondered – ” my father has completed a century. Some of my brothers are in their eighties. Still, they refuse to leave. Surely, there isn’t anything worth waiting for here. I better go with Death and go gracefully.”

In the story, the trend of sacrifice continued till Yayati reached a thousand. Just a number. And finally got convinced that one can’t ever be satisfied enough to voluntarily leave this body. He decided to relent.

So why do you fear aging? Because a realization dawns on every birthday that nothing of worth has been accomplished all these years. More needs to be seen, done, and experienced. Silently, something deep keeps calling though. You try to listen to it but what happens? The mind starts convincing you that there is time. So much can be consumed. Age is just a number. The calling can wait. Who calls and hides like this? So much is there to be achieved in this life, be realistic. Chase your dreams. Life is made up of dreams anyway.

What convinces you that someday something extraordinary will happen and the coming years will be different? If the need for change isn’t being felt now what will change in the future? If the temporary is the most attractive now, how can it suddenly appear meaningless when the time to go arrives? By repeating that age is just a number – can you repeat a Yayati?

Those who have been driven by that higher intelligence, have never been bound by the concept of time. For them, age never actually mattered. Swami Vivekananda, who left before forty, didn’t need a hundred years to fulfill the role assigned. He accomplished what many individuals combined can’t dream of in a lifetime spanning a hundred. Goswami Tulsidas, was more than eighty when he started composing Ramcharitmanas. Are there any better-known poetic masterpieces of devotion and wisdom? Only a higher purpose makes age redundant, nothing else can.

When you are driven by that higher purpose, something that is outside of your ego world, you live beyond the domain of cause and effect. And what is time, but the gap between a cause and an effect? Age is irrelevant when you enter the timeless. And that timeless is now, this moment – when life is actually happening. The body ages with time. The truth is timeless. Physical aging can be delayed but can’t be denied. By playing the same game, again and again, one loses the opportunities of rebirth before death.

The storm of desires will never subside. The mind, conditioned and ruled by memories and instincts – will portray a grand scene of incompleteness. You will try and catch hold of everything you can, but no effort will be enough. When you realize that there is nowhere to reach, the running stops. Age becomes just a number then. Eternity becomes a reality.

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HINDI Perspectives

बताऊँ मैं कौन हूँ?

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वेदांत में सत्य का अन्वेषण नेति नेति के सिद्धांत पर आधारित है। जो सबसे सूक्ष्म है वह सामान्य बुद्धि या इन्द्रियबोध से परे है। जब तक भ्रम रुपी बादल चित्त पर मंडराते रहेंगे सत्य छिपा ही रहेगा। इसलिए विश्लेषणात्मक तर्क और सहज बोध के द्वारा धीरे धीरे जो जो भी सत्य नहीं है उसको बारी बारी से हटाया जाता है।
इसी तरह जब यह प्रश्न आता है कि “मैं कौन हूँ ” तब भी आरम्भ इससे होता है कि मैं क्या क्या नहीं हो सकता ( “मैं शरीर नहीं हूँ” ,इत्यादि)। उपनिषदों में इस तरह के आत्म निरीक्षण के कई उदाहरण हैं। जब परतें खुलती जाती हैं तब साधक को धीरे धीरे अपने अस्तित्व की विराटता का अनुभव होने लगता है। फिर भी एक जीवनकाल में ईश्वरीय अनुग्रह के बिना सामान्य प्रयास के सहारे अपना सही स्वरुप जानना अत्यंत कठिन है। यदि “मैं कौन हूँ ” यह पता चल गया तब कोई और प्रश्न रहता ही नहीं।


इसके विपरीत प्रकृति द्वारा संचालित संसार में “मैं कौन हूँ ? ” , इसका उत्तर जानने वालों की कमी नहीं है। अपनी अपनी सुविधा और अहम् की आवश्यकता के हिसाब से व्यक्ति अपनी पहचान बताएगा। कोई अपने आप को अपने धर्म ,भाषा या विचारधारा से परिभाषित करेगा ,और किसी की पहचान उसकी उपलब्धि या व्यवसाय से होगी। सब अपने आप को इतने अच्छे से जानते हैं कि संसार के सागर में बहुत से सत्य तैर रहे हैं। वह आपस में टकराते रहते हैं और चक्र चलता रहता है।

प्रकृति का स्वरुप ही विभाजन और द्वैत पर निर्भर है। एकत्व का अनुभव माया के अस्तित्व के लिए ख़तरा है। अगर अधिकाँश व्यक्ति यह समझ जाएं कि मैं क्या नहीं हूँ , यह देख लें कि धर्म , विचारधारा , या जातीयता के आगे भी कुछ है , तब किसी प्रकार के घर्षण की संभावना ही कहाँ बचेगी ? यदि सब एक ही है तो स्वयं ही स्वयं से कैसे टकराएगा ? “अपनी सामाजिक या व्यक्तिगत पहचान के परे मैं क्या हूँ ? ” , यह एक पश्न ही जो जो भी अर्जित किया गया है उसको नष्ट कर देगा , इसलिए इसके पूछे जाने की संभावना ही बहुत कम है ।


फिर भी , सांसारिक दृष्टिकोण से भी , ” मैं इन सबमें से कुछ भी नहीं हूँ” ज्यादा विवेकपूर्ण विकल्प लगता है। जो यहाँ अपने आप को जानने का दम्भ भरते हैं उनका हाल भी तो प्रत्यक्ष ही है। ऐसे लोग ट्रैफिक सिग्नल पर चालान से बचने के लिए अपना परिचय देते ही रहते हैं। नेति नेति ही ठीक है।अज्ञान के बोध में संभावनाएं तो छुपी हैं ।

Categories
Perspectives

All Rights Reserved

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Can the birds claim copyrights over their compositions?

Can the mountains claim credits for their magnificence?

Or, do the Northern Lights bother charging the audience for the show they put on?

Do the elements of existence, barring humans, even care about their uniqueness getting noticed?

The question of obtaining “rights” arises only when one assumes the role of a creator/originator of any idea/work or process. However, little does one bother to go behind the source of these “original” pieces of creation.

Stimulation of the senses and application of accumulated information is essential to set the process of creation in motion. When a poet is struck by the scenery of the clouds merging into the hills, his emotions get ignited and he comes up with a passionate formulation of words. Where is the database of these words and emotions? The first trigger is the stimulation of the senses. Next comes application on the basis of accumulated information. Those metaphors and analogies are supplied through the interconnections between the scene recorded, and the area of activation of the mind. Memory is set into action and the process of creation starts. When action precedes thoughts, the process is at its most efficient and one gets into “the flow”.

Every single idea, concept, or thought is drawn from the ever-existing database of the mind. If one looks closely, what is unique or original here? Has credit been given to those hills, flowers, sounds, and waterfalls for how they are? Have they been acknowledged for triggering that area of awareness in one’s subconscious mind? Where is the originality here, other than the jugglery of mental concepts? Aren’t humans just the product of their conditioning? Isn’t every mind composed of a similar background?

Who is supplying this raw material to all minds? Don’t we make the mistake of treating our mental content as unique, which in fact remains the same for everyone if variations of time, place, and context are catered to? Isn’t there this Universal Mind which is the source and the supplier of all that we play with? Aren’t the stories in one part of the world strikingly similar to the other if we just account for the contextual variations? Aren’t the primitive expressions of emotions the same across regions? Aren’t the questions in front of Man the same for ages? The Source is the same, how can anything new come up then?

This Universal Mind allows its content to be played with, used, and utilized. Whatever has been said, thought, done, felt, or produced will trace its origin to a common source. The same goes for the future. The context will always create a facade of uniqueness though and that is how illusions work.

Let us stop at the invocation of the Isa Upanishad :-

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

“That is full, this is full,
From that fullness comes this fullness,
If you take away this fullness from that fullness,
Only fullness remains”

What is present in that whole is present here too. Whatever is present here has been derived from that whole. That source. Which is ever full. The Sun of that universal mind illuminates the candles of all worldly minds. The same white light of reality is being reused by all of us . Nothing else,or “new” exists.

What propels creativity? Connecting with the Source of sources leads to those real and unique works. This process is beyond normal learning. All the greatness and beauty that has been unearthed to date is due to that direct connection, which just got established in those moments of mindfulness, when the intervening levels got short-circuited, leading one to the ultimate source.

No one can take away any credit from those individuals involved in the “wow” process – those ideas, works, and creations have made the world liveable and beautiful. At the same time , that white light which gets dispersed into various colors and allows us to play with different aspects of it – that too deserves salutations.

Copyrights are a necessity in a “short of time” world where people look to grab ideas from the intervening levels rather than opening up themselves and getting connected with the Universal Mind. However, the next time the musician, painter, photographer, or poet in you gets moved by appreciation, remember to be grateful to the elements of nature, your five senses, and the Universal Mind for helping you manifest a product from the ever-existing raw material. You are composed of that fullness which never hesitates in sharing its fullness. You too are full. Share your fullness and feel the abundance of being.

Categories
POETRY

Freedom

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When the last breath leaves and merges with its source,

When the mind recedes to nothingness and its home of old;

When I am left alone with this song of silence,

What is left to be seen when the seer is the scene?

I am floating in this vacuum of darkness,

For what all was this earthly madness?

Who takes care of the house and the keys?

Those leftover accounts and the assets that freeze;

Those tales of victory and the battles fought,

Those cries and wants and laughter aloud;

What all was that as I wonder now?

When all that I did was travel as now;

Let me cut these invisible chains,

For who wants to return to this circus again;

Let me rest here and now,

I have my freedom and will never be bound…

Categories
Perspectives

Settling Down?

When Gautam Buddha asked Angulimala, the notorious and ruthless brigand, “I have stopped, when will you?”, he was coaxing him to settle down in life. Angulimala, who had made a rosary out of the fingers of those he had murdered, got eventually transformed and gave up his fruitless quest. In a flash, Buddha, who had moved above the unsettling tendencies in life, made the murderer aware of the turbulence created by a deluded mind.

Unless your mind is settled, can you stop? If it is settled, what worldly event can unsettle you?

The only allowable phase where one can live an “unsettled” life is that of early childhood. Why? Because during that stage, a human being isn’t of much relevance for the society, its ideologies, boundaries, and the “must do-s”. Even this changes when “experts” are engaged to help condition those unalloyed humans into socially worthy and relevant individuals. The process of settlement begins there. If you look closely though, those early years were the only days when you were actually settled. That remains an irrelevant subject for the established society though.

Next, as a student, you were required to get trained well enough to eventually settle well in stable careers. In the hope of getting somewhere, you kept stopping at favorable coasts. Then came the big one. The settlement of marriage, that search for the settled one, which is generally expected to settle you forever. At least after this, you were deemed to be settled, and the tossing ship got anchored till the next storm. The world moved on to the next prey, to merge it into itself, to ensure that harmony.

As you started the process of getting your offspring settled, you waited for that fullness to arrive. That real settlement. Bang came senility, and you had the company of those locker keys, unsettled transactions, unfinished tussles, and journeys that could never be undertaken. What was that, which remained unfulfilled? Where was that shore of settlement?

The waves never settled. Just as one receded, the next arrived. Tide after tide, the hope of quietude kept pushing you. The world meanwhile, remained established in hope, or the illusion of it. Buddha had seen through this. Those great sights had reached beyond the mind. The message was – “find your own path, be a light unto yourself, go beyond the dualities of happiness and sorrow”. That was to be the real settlement.

I get reminded of another beautiful story. A sage was sitting on the outskirts of a village when a visitor asked him “which road will lead me to the settlements (बस्ती कहाँ है )? “. The sage pointed in a direction and the man left. After some time, he came back huffing and puffing and asked the sage angrily, “stupid man, why did you send me to the graveyard ? “. The wise man replied, ” I thought you were looking for settlements, so I guided you accordingly. In the other direction, you will find discordance and destruction ( बसते तो उधर हैं, इधर उजड़ते हैं )”.

Image: dailymirror.lk

Categories
HINDI

मनसागर

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मन अथाह सागर है। इसमें छोटी बड़ी लहरे उठती रहती हैं। तूफ़ान आते रहते हैं , प्रतिक्रिया शून्य व्यक्ति एकाएक इनमे फँस जाता है और बचने के लिए और कई तूफानों का निर्माण कर लेता है। कब कौन सा विचार सतह पर आ जाए और किसी छद्म वास्तविकता का बोध करा दे कोई नहीं जानता। तो मनुष्य कर क्या सकता है ? क्या ऐसे लहरों के साथ ऊपर नीचे होते रहना ही उसकी नियति है ? क्या इस सागर के क्षेत्र का अवलोकन किया जा सकता है ? क्या इस सागर में ही रहते हुए इसकी सामग्री को तटस्थ भाव से देखा जा सकता है ?


विवेक रुपी यन्त्र का उपयोग करके इस सागर की तह तक पहुंचा जा सकता है। वहां जाकर क्या दिखेगा ? यही , कि जिन प्रवत्तियों , सिद्धांतों , विचारधाराओं और छद्म वास्तविकताओं ने भय रुपी कोहरे से भ्रमित करके मनुष्य को बंधक बनाया हुआ है , सब यहीं पड़ी हुई हैं। और यह सागर सबका है। यही वैश्विक मन है। सब यहीं से सामग्री उठा रहे हैं। मेरा सागर तुम्हारे सागर से भिन्न नहीं है। लहरों पर डोलते डोलते तुम यह समझने लगे हो क़ि तुम्हारा अस्तित्व , तुम्हारा सत्य और समस्याएँ औरों से भिन्न हैं। तुम देख ही नहीं पा रहे। देख भी तब पाते जब स्वयं को इन लहरों से पृथक कर पाते। इसके लिए भी इसके स्रोत तक पहुंचना पड़ेगा , सामग्री देखनी पड़ेगी। वही सामग्री जो सबकी एक ही है , सब एक दूसरे से टकरा रहे हैं और नयी लहरों का जन्म हो रहा है।


जब कोई व्यक्ति अपने विवेक का प्रयोग करके इस सागर की क्रीड़ाओं से अप्रभावित रहने की युक्ति निकालता है , तब वह पलायन नहीं कर रहा होता , अपितु इसी सागर की सीमाओं में रहते हुए इसकी सामग्री और इसके क्रियाकलाप समझ रहा होता है। महात्मा बुद्ध दुःख से दूर नहीं गए थे , अपितु सुख और दुःख रुपी लहरों के स्रोत तक गए थे। वह यह समझ गए थे कि जीवन कि स्थितियॉं इन लहरों के आने जाने का स्थूल चित्रण मात्र हैं।


क्या मनुष्य का अस्तित्व इन लहरों पर ही निर्भर है ? क्या यही उसका भाग्य है ? यदि बचने के मार्ग नहीं हैं तब भी इनसे विलग कैसे रहा जाए ?इस सागर में रहते हुए इसकी सामग्री का सदुपयोग कैसे किया जाए ? यही प्रश्न हमारे समक्ष भी रहते हैं ,विशेष रूप से तब जब यह उठापटक कष्टदायी लगने लगती है।

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Perspectives

Why So Serious?

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Life is short , live your dreams..

Chase your happiness, you deserve it ..

Let the World preach , Its my Life ! ..

Why so serious ?

This is what they tell me. This has given me that sense of self worth. These daily quotes give me that daily push. These ads. I love them. They care so much for my happiness. Whatever my mind says, they deliver . I feel like the center of the Universe. I walk on this planet like a King. All its resources and beings -living or non living are tools to further my existence. My life has only one rule , one ethic- The Pursuit Of Happiness. My freedom , my rights are paramount. I am the worthiest. This is what “they” say , they can’t lie. My sensory sojourns are taken care of by them . I am full. Never deprived.

I know my time is limited. I will ensure I “use” and consume it fully. Whatever I need , is up there in that catalogue. Everything from the tiniest atom to the loftiest visible object , all exist to make my life better here. I am worthy. They keep telling me .

One thing haunts me though. Why do I become serious sometimes? When it comes to those unpleasant times? Why can’t I be nonchalant then too? What is that I fear losing in those times? If life is a joke, why can’t I laugh at my miseries? Why don’t those ads seem pleasant during those times? They say all I need is a lot of stuff. I have it. And “they” are always there to load me with more stuff and “happiness”. But why do I get serious when things don’t go my way?

They tell me that there have been some extraordinary non-serious people like Guru Nanak, Kabir Das, and Meera Bai. They tell me that the more they lost, the happier they became. The more they gave, the fuller they felt. What was that brand of non-seriousness? Why don’t they show it in the ads? Weren’t those people advised by their minds and adversities to “go for it” and “get” what they deserved and wanted?

white birds flying
(Photo by Hakan Tahmaz on Pexels.com)

Probably they did what they wanted, just as I am doing. But they were not serious. Even I am not. It’s just that I get ruffled easily and “they” rush to make me OK again. But I do suffer. Those non serious people soared over the sea of suffering. I would love to soar too, learn their brand of non-seriousness someday and embrace their carefree mode of existing.

Even as these questions arise , I can see that “they” are coming. They tell me that the World’s economy runs on my happiness. They can go to any extent to cheer me up. They are always working on that. They have toys for every occasion. Whenever I become serious or turn inward, they present a new toy which keeps me sane and practical. They tell me real detachment is about staying away from those tough questions which pop up when suffering strikes.

Those fakirs must have been really weird people. Who can stay in joy just like that ? Without any help from “them” ? Their non seriousness must be a myth. Mine is real. The purpose of Life is to chill. Time to see my therapist and then I am off for shopping. I can’t stay serious for long.

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Perspectives

Are you listening?

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Without duality , there is no perception of the “other”.

Cause- effect, knower-known, observer-observed, speaker-listener, and so on.

Talking of listening, the seemingly innocuous process involves so many things. Making some space in your mind to register the words thrown at you, making some sense of what is being said, and retaining the essence of those words(assimilation).

While a mother can listen to a child’s mind from miles away, the truth is that we have so many speakers but few listeners.

Not listening properly is fraught with dangers:-

  • You missing out on details
  • The speaker getting agitated at your inability to respond as expected
  • The conversation taking an unintended turn

Why don’t we listen? Because our minds are occupied by other more interesting, attractive, and “useful” thoughts. You try to keep the background noise alive by courteously giving the speaker the attention deserved. The process involves acting, nodding, and repeating the keywords. Obviously, this leads to incoherent and incomplete understanding.

On top of everything, you are driven so much by your conditioning and prefixed notions that you listen to the person and not the speech. You even have a set conclusion running in the background. You are just waiting for the speaker to stop and confirm your theory, and getting relief from the mild pain between your brows.

Ironically, the era of staying connected has led to disconnected relationships and conversations. The attention span is already very low, the technology more trustworthy than its creator. You expect the speaker to talk using keywords and hashtags and two-minute clips. Shouldn’t we go back to the cave era and start to communicate using drawings?

Unless the listening improves, the energy drain will continue. So much will continue to be spoken without effect. There will be futile presentations and a sleeping audience. Those incomprehensible, seemingly deep, and never-ending “couple” calls will go on forever with no conclusion obviously. The meetings will keep ending with resolutions “to meet again”, with the hope that finally the “one” who actually listens comes up with a breakthrough.

But why are talks inconclusive? Among many factors, one is both parties trying to force their way through the opposition’s mind while simultaneously blocking any rival views from entering their own. Why do people need to go to experts who “listen”? Because they hope that by paying them they earn a right to a dignified hearing. And that is what satisfies a human. Being heard and understood.

Categories
Perspectives

Quiet Please

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It is tough to acknowledge that thoughtlessness exists. But either through guidance or accident, once you discover the state, it can be an addiction with a difference. Why?

Imagine you are stuck in a traffic jam. There is honking, confusion, irritation, desperation, and lack of clarity. That is usually the state of your mind. Sometimes you are aware of it, but generally, you are so much accustomed to this “normal” that it is tough to imagine or desire an escape route, a clear road.

All of us get so used to this energy drain. Just as the crisscross movement of vehicles doesn’t leave any road space for free movement, the same is the “normal” state of our minds. There is no space left for any insight and creativity. The energies are locked. Our disks are usually full. There are no separate partitions either. The only option left is to optimize the space we have.

But can we remove the unused files permanently? The problem is, we cannot. We are so programmed by our conditioning, memories, and tendencies that it is hard to dump the data in one go. What can be done in order to clear the road? Unnecessary tasks can be killed. Immediately, new possibilities will emerge. That is what thoughtlessness does.

Every time you are able to enter this state, suddenly there is load shedding. Infinite calm. True, it is not generally possible to be alone on this road for more than a few seconds. Just as you start enjoying or acknowledging the “change”, thoughts from all directions will enter and hit you. Not an issue. Once you know that a new normal exists, you’ll keep trying. You will realize that you do have some power after all. You will finally understand that the world dies if the mind becomes silent. You will acknowledge that deep relaxation and freedom from daily demons can be achieved without drugs.

Like King Janaka, you will also wonder, “यह सच या वह सच “, which is my real state?

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Perspectives

Smile Please !

selective focus photo of two women standing together taking a selfie
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Why should you smile for the photographer? Or why should you consciously smile at all? What is this tradition of showing your teeth or twisting your lips for the world?

Shouldn’t your inner self gleam through unfiltered? As it is? What is this “fool yourself and the world” madness? A game where both the observer and the observed are fooling each other?

False display of happiness cannot ever substitute for true inner peace and contentment. I do not know about the origins of laughing Buddha, but any image of the “enlightened one” that comes to mind shows him half smiling, tranquil, and at peace with himself. Sri Rama has always been depicted as emotionally stable, balanced, and radiant. Maybe this trend of smiling for the camera is a very recent phenomenon.

A smile is a natural gesture, a sentiment ( bhava ). The face radiates what lies within unless one tries to radiate what others want to see. Most of our words and actions have an artificial touch of conformity and are tuned for social acceptance. Now when even the facial expressions become a victim of this madness not much “naturalness” is left.

The glorious man-made era of selfies and pouts has rendered that natural pose and poise redundant. The more you twist your lips and distort your face, the better your camera appeal.

Well, it entirely depends on you as to what you do with your face in this “my choice” era. I am a bit outdated though and find it tough to mold my expression as per external diktats. Why can’t the camera capture “what is “? Let it capture those dry, dull, depressed faces. Let it learn to capture those natural expressions once again. Let your style quotient go to hell and you be captured with your innocence or beastly self, whatever it is. Let you allow the camera to capture the real “YOU”. Why should an entire generation and population be caught with the same expression? The world indeed becomes boring this way.

Why should the so-called influencers and celebrities be allowed to project heavenly sides of their lives and sway the youth with falsity?

Just as mega/Giga/Tera/peta pixel cameras will come and go and become redundant, the nonsense they have led to will also die a slow death. The era of bland, “expressionless” pics will be back again. The child will smile and laugh, irrespective of someone capturing him or not. You will become a child again. The flower will become a flower again, irrespective of its color, season, or attraction.