A Rediscovery of Existential Bliss

Vedic Renaissance

2007-05-04T11:40:00.000-07:00

From a recent talk by Nithyananda.

Why do we need Vedic renaissance? Let us first understand. For the first time in the history of the planet, human beings are enjoying so much luxury in the outer world. In the outer world, whether medicine, communications or technology, we have reached a peak. Just as we have reached a peak in the outer world luxury and comforts, we have reached a peak of suffering and misery in the inner world. Humanity has never suffered so much in the inner world. We are living in a world which is experiencing spiritual poverty. The Vedic tradition is a constant reminder, a constant inspiration to work on the inner world, to transform and to experience a different space, a different world. Only Vedic renaissance can do that, give you the experience of spiritual truth, the experience of the inner world, your own consciousness.

The first thing you need to do is become a seeker and understand the reason for living. When I use the word seeker, I mean a person who understands that the outer world is not everything; life is more than just the outer world. Whenever you feel that life is just more than what you experience through the senses you become a seeker. You start seeking the truth - in Sanskrit we call it mumukshutwa - seeking beyond he senses. Shankara, the great Master, spoke of the value of manushyatwa, mumukshutwa, Mahapurusha sangama, or having the human body, seeking the the Higher Self, and having the experience with an Enlightened being, having a touch or darshan of an Enlightened being. After having these three, if a person remains unenlightened, he is called... a fool!

Again and again, life reminds you of the truth, that life is beyond your control; especially when some near and dear ones die, or there is some accident, or you lose your job. Then, you are completely shaken, and don't know how to handle it. Either you fall into depression or you suffer. You have to then start seeking when you feel that your life is no longer in your control. The seeking should be a deep understanding, not just an emotional reaction. When understanding is added to the seeking, you will see that you will be transformed. Use only once scale to judge whether whatever you have been taught is the truth: Does it add more sat, honesty to you? Does it add more chit, consciousness to you? Does it add more ananda, bliss to you? If so, then you are traveling on the right path and, naturally, you will start experiencing enlightenment.

Once you create real sincere seeking, you will see that you are attracted to a spiritual community, and you attract a spiritual community around you. When a seeker attracts the same kind of people around him, it will create such a beautiful, peaceful community - no rules and regulations are necessary. All will live in Dharma, in the natural law of life. Each one will take charge of some work naturally. I call this Dharmic administration, administration through the natural law of life.

In the ancient Vedic Gurukulam, there was no community based on birth. It was purely based on activity. A person who doesn't have anything to share except his time is called a worker. A person who can share and create some products is called a vaishya, a merchant or businessman. A person who who inspires people in an ideology, who keeps things alive, is called kshatriya, or a warrior, an inspirer. A person who shares enlightenment, knowledge, is called a Brahmana, an Enlightened one. An important understanding you should have, is that you need to know when in your life to play these roles, of Brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and worker. This will bring about Vedic renaissance in your own family. Your whole life will then become beautiful.

The truth is, life itself is a psychodrama. If you understand clearly that you are playing this drama again and again and again, you will realize that being a Brahmana is nothing great. If you do the job of the Brahmana, you will realize that it's just another job. Because you are sitting there, I am sitting here! Because disciples are there, the Guru is here. It is purely your choice. It is just a matter of who chooses to play what role.

I am not joyful not because I am playing the role of the Guru, but because I have understood that all roles are a drama. Joy is supposed to come from your own Being, not from any role. A person who can play all roles, and who has understood he is beyond all roles, who is not attached to any one role, is called a Paramahamsa, an Enlightened being. If you understand the utility and futility of all roles, you will really live life.

So, first, try to bring seeking into your life; then, realize the utility and futility of the roles you play. You will bring about Vedic renaissance in yourself, the whole community, and the whole world.

Transcendence

2007-03-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

It's all about transcendence. We dream, we fantasize, we get intoxicated with food and drink and physical contact, only to escape our own company if only for just a moment. Without those moments of ecstatic bliss of expansion which free us temporarily from our lives of quiet desperation, we may as well die. What is it that does it for you that lets your spirit soar high in the skies of purity? Can you remain flying in those skies, or does gravity pull you down unceremoniously?

When we enter the space of deep frustration that human existence brings, and enter the vacuous emptiness that escapism through sensory excitement leaves in its wake, a new space opens. A space of bliss eternal, ever renewing, ever nurturing. A space of bliss which is not polluted, corrupted, by insiduous thoughts, or feelings, or actions. A space of bliss which has always been ours. In that space we realize, we are home.

Settling into Bliss

2006-12-18T11:39:00.000-08:00

Our world and our lives in this present age predominantly express the qualities of vaata as described in Ayurveda. The essential nature of vaata is motion and aggravation of vaata leads to a sort of nervous, edgy energy which creates excitement in the superficial layers of Self, the annamaya kosha (the physical layer), pranamaya kosha (the pranic layer), and manomaya kosha (mental layer) but stirs up deep agitation in the mind-body-awareness connection and leaves us with a feeling of stress and burnout.

A holistic approach to our work on ourselves in the physical realm in order to start experiencing the deeper nature of the real Self or atman is necessary. The concept of dinacharya, or a daily routine praised in Ayurveda, is an excellent way to create a deep restfulness that is necessary to experience the bliss of our Being. Some key approaches I have found useful are outlined here.

Oil pulling: Squishing a small quantity of sesame oil in the mouth after waking up reduces vaata in the brain and mind.

Diet: A sattvic diet truly helps begin the process of restoring harmony to the bodily tissues and mental state. All vegetarian food, freshly cooked, lightly seasoned, with a touch of ghee are yogic in nature. Nuts, warm milk (with saffron) and lentil soups are also included in this category. Tea made from Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) and Brahmi (Gotu kola) also promote sattva, or purity, peace and a rested nervous system.

Abhyanga: A whole body massage with warm sesame oil before a shower has been praised by Charaka, the great Seer of Ayurveda as a means of promoting life and bliss.

Hatha Yoga: Most simple, gentle postures (surya namaskar is excellent) allow healthy functioning of naadis or subtle channels for flow of ojas, or the vital essence of the body. This results in feeling of exhilaration. Nithyananda has offered a simple idea to follow while performing any asana thus, "Imagine that your entire body is a bliss bag. Whenever you bend or move your body for any purpose, that memory, that idea, will be completely inserted and recorded in your body and mind. That intent or samskara will start expressing in your body."

Meditating in the presence of a living Buddha: As recognized and extolled by the Vedic tradition, this is one simple, effortless, direct means of experiencing the profound awareness beyond time and space, of nirvikalpa samadhi, or bliss without form. I meditated on my own for years, but never had the sort of shift in awareness that meditating for a day in my Master's presence had, leading to the no-mind zone. A quantum shift in intelligence is greatly accelerated through this process, which is as mysterious as it is thrilling.

The above approaches can greatly enhance the state of being grounded and help propel the body and mind into bliss. As Nithyananda says, "When your shoe fits well, you lose awareness of the shoe. When the belt fits well, you lose awareness of the belt. And, when the body fits well, you lose awareness of the body!" This settling into the body ends in settling into bliss. Then the mind can enter the gap between thoughts, and the gap between breaths, which is the home of samadhi, or pure bliss.

More Q&A with Nithyananda

2006-10-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

Q: How can we surrender the ego, when this wanting to surrender is itself an expression of the ego?

Nithyananda: How are you going to surrender the ego, when it does not exist? Suppose you are sitting in a dark room. You want the darkness to disappear. But can you push it out? Can you fight darkness and force it to leave the room? No! No matter how long you keep trying, you are ultimately going to be defeated - and that too by something which does not exist!

The ego is like darkness, it has no positive existence. Just like darkness is simply the absence of light, the ego is nothing but the absence of awareness. To struggle to kill the ego is like struggling to push the darkness out of the room. To really expel the darkness, what you need to do is to forget all about dealing with the darkness. Focus your energy on Light instead. Just bring a small lamp into the room, and you will find that the darkness has fled on its own! So, I tell you to forget all about the ego. Instead, focus on bringing a lamp of awareness into your being. When your entire consciousness has become a flame, you will find that the ego is no more.

The ego is an illusion. You cannot surrender it when you are unaware - because you don't know how. Of course, you cannot surrender it when you become aware either - because then you realize that there is nothing left to surrender! What you have heard, read, been taught - 'Surrender the ego in order to attain Self-realization' - this is an utterly nonsensical idea. It can happen only the other way round. Self-realization dawns, and suddenly you cannot find the ego anymore. The surrender has aleady happened, just like that.

However, I am glad that the question has arisen in your being. The ego is the root cause for all your anxieties, sorrows, tensions. It is your doorway to hell. To actively feel that you want to drop the ego, to feel the the need to be rid of this burden is itself a step towards awareness. It shows that you are stirring from your sleep!

Q: Whenever I am in your presence all questions disappear and everything seems possible. But when I am away from you, all the familiar doubts creep in. Why does this happen and what can I do about it?

Nithyananda: If a question disappears on its own in my presence, then it is time to realize that it was not a true question at all; it was merely a play of the mind. When you are with me, the mind is no more in control - you simply flow into meditation. You become a loving, serene silence. In this state, only a question that is truly your question, one that is completely relevant to you, will still remain with you.

In my presence, you become so intensely aware, so completely present that there is no space for questions to arise. When you leave my presence, the mind is free to impose the past and the future upon your present - for what else are your questions but the play of the past and the future upon your present? Just like the ego, there is no point in fighting with or condemning the mind. It is a pointless struggle which you are sure to lose. Instead, it is enough to be aware that this is the very nature of the mind; it can be expected to behave in no other way. It is bound to bring in anxiety, confusion, doubt. Just to be conscious of this is enough.

Do not pass judgement on the mind - even to get angry with your mind is to lose your energy to it. As you witness the workings of the mind, you will slowly become aware that you are not the mind - you are more than the mind, you are the watcher. Once deprived of your energy, the mind cannot go on! In the place of the chaos of thoughts that you call your mind, a clear, intense consciousness will arise. At that moment, all questions dissolve and the mind is no more.

This is the experience you find yourself having in my presence. And what I have just told you is the way to make it stay with you always - even when you are not with me! It is a slow process - give it time. It will happen.

Q:You ask us not to suppress our natural passions. But is it right to indulge in these passions?

Nithyananda: On this path, you will time and again come across apparent dualities: good/bad, false/true, attachment/aversion, suppression/indulgence. In fact, raging inside your being is this constant conflict of opposites. Whenever a duality asserts itself, remember this thumbrule: Existence is nondual. Opposites do not exist. To cling to either suppression or indulgence is a sign of ignorance. After all, suppression is nothing but a reaction to indulgence. What is essential is the awareness of one’s own tendencies.

Recognize anger, recognize jealousy, recognize lust and greed. Neither give in to these emotions nor try to suppress them. Simply attempt to know them for what they are. Keep your distance, and view your emotions as if they were strangers. You will be surprised to find that without your support, they cannot exist, they simply drop away! This may not make much sense to you when it is just someone else’s experience - but through constant practice you will experience the truth for yourself. It is only this awareness that can awaken Self-knowledge, and free you of these concepts of all dualities!

Q: You say that skepticism is a big hindrance to learning. But you also urge us to voice our doubts. Why?

Nithyananda: You can raise questions due to either skepticism or doubt. But there is a world of difference between the two.

Skepticism is a state where one refuses to believe in anything at all. Just like that! The skeptic will raise arguments just for the sake of raising them. Skepticism itself is an unconscious belief; it is a foregone negative conclusion against anything and everything. The skeptic has no ideology of his own, he only has an argument against whatever idea you place before him. He will argue against an idea for hours, and if you present another idea that is just the opposite, he will argue against it equally emphatically! Actually, he has already settled into a permanent attitude of "no!" towards everything. Truly, skepticism marks the end of the journey for the learner, because with this attitude it is impossible to get anywhere. The skeptic has closed himself to all possibility of change.

Doubt, on the other hand, is a state of openness and receptivity. Doubt is an acceptance of "I don’t know, but I can learn." This marks the beginning of the learner's pilgrimage. Doubt is the path of the seeker. It simply seeks to eliminate all that is untrue in order to perceive the Truth. A man with a doubt listens with respect, not with defiance. He possesses the humility of the ignorant. His is the attitude of "yes!"; he is only waiting to experience so that he can trust.

When a person with a sharp intellect turns to skepticism, it is a dangerous sign - because it can be very ego-fulfilling to put down all ideas in an effective manner. But ultimately, the skeptic is only burning his own bridges. This is especially true of skepticism with a Master; if you adopt the attitude of skepticism, there is just no way the Master can get through to you. There is no point in going to a doctor just to question the value of every pill in his prescription, is there?

So ask your questions, by all means. Just watch the attitude with which you ask them!

Awareness: The Gates of God

2006-10-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

From talks on the Shiva Sutras by Nithyananda.

Shiva says:
Tayaapooryaashu moordhaantam bhanktvaa bhrookshepasetunaa;
Nirvikalpam manah kritvaa sarvordhve sarvagodgamah.

With attention between the eyebrows, let the mind be before thought. Then, the inner energy rises, fills awareness and omnipresence prevails.

"During my travels as a parivrajaka (wandering renunciant), I stayed with and had the opportunity to learn from a great Master, a Naga Baba, in the Himalayas. He had a unique method of teaching. Whenever people came to him to learn, he would stick his trishul, the trident which Shiva carries, in the ground, and he would ask them to look at all three tips simultaneously. I had seen, that sometimes his students would sit for three months staring at the trishul all day, trying to perfect themselves. It is much harder than it appears. One moment you can see one tip in your vision, and the next moment the next tip and the next moment the third tip. I first thought it was easy! But when I started practising, I was shocked, 'Oh God, I can't even see this small trishul, entirely, all at once!' Only then did I understand, that without moving the eyeballs, without shifting the gaze, we cannot really see more than one point.

The trishul is a great weapon to to create awareness of the third eye; a great way to expand awareness. Right now, your field of vision is 120 degrees. If you start concentrating at one particular point, it will slowly become 30 degrees. The more you concentrate, the narrower the field of vision becomes, but if you center yourself on the third eye, slowly your awareness will expand beyond 120 degrees, and you will be able to first see 180 degrees, then 240 degrees and ultimately 360 degrees. To create awareness by centering yourself on the third eye means to awaken your consciousness.

The second line of the sutra is 'Let the mind be before thought'. Being aware before thought arises is the greatest liberation! Try this simple experiment. Look at a rose without creating any words, without creating any words about it in your inner space. Do not think that it is a rose, that it is red, or that it is beautiful. Do not create any thoughts at all! Just look at it. Just try to relate with it without any words. Suddenly, you will see that you are in a different space! You are able to connect with the flower more deeply than you ever imagined. Please be very clear, you do not relate with the world as it is. If you look with the two physical eyes, it is equivalent to blindness. According to Tantra, either you use one eye or three eyes. According to me, either you use three eyes or no eyes at all. Even if you see with your eyes, you do not see what is, you just play with words. The moment you create a word, you are no more connected to the world. And once you create words, joy is lost; the moment you verbalize, all joy is lost.

The third eye, the ajna chakra, is the energy center for intuition. Once this third eye is opened, you will start awakening and living a life of freedom. You will be liberated from your inner chatter. You will live with what is. Your vision disturbed by your samskaras (embedded engrams) is what I call maya. If your third eye is awakened, your vision will be clear. With the third eye you can burn the false appearance of reality and be liberated from it. You will live like Shiva. You will live like Mahadeva!"

Inner Chatter

2006-09-29T03:29:00.000-07:00

Nithyananda touches upon the nature of the mind:

Whether you speak through voicing opinions, or continue the conversation in your minds, it is difficult to break from the unconscious habit of inner chatter. When you are alone, you begin talking to yourself. In sleep, you begin talking in your dreams. You are not able to remain at peace with yourself even in your sleep, because you indulge in talk 24/7! An analogy: you may not feel a thing if you run fast for one or two minutes. If you run for 30 minutes, you will be gasping for breath. But if you continue running past your imagined limit, what happens to the body? It runs on auto-pilot. In the same manner, it has become difficult to be in silence because of the habit of the mind.

A small story: A learned professor from the West went to meet a Zen Master in the East, in Japan. The professor was a scholar, and had done a lot of research in many areas of science. He went to meet the Master to acquire some spiritual knowledge, to discuss various subjects with him, and to understand spirituality better.

He arrived at the Master's place and found the Master brewing tea. The Master saw him and gestured for him to sit and continued to brew the tea. The professor sat down and after a while, started talking about his background, about all his studies, his discoveries, his travels all over the world, his experiences with different people, his conclusions on various subjects and what not.

The Master finished brewing the tea and placed two cups between them. He began pouring tea into the professor's cup. He poured and poured and slowly the cup started overflowing. The tea spilt over the saucer and flowed onto the table. The professor was watching what was happening. He could not contain himself any more. He screamed out, "Master, what are you doing? Stop pouring! The cup is overflowing!"

The Master stopped and calmly said, "So are you."

The professor was surprised but suddenly understood exactly what the Master was trying to convey. The professor was so full, just like the teacup that could not hold any more tea, that any words of wisdom from the Master would not have filled him, but would have only overflowed outside. There is no question of perfect health or a blissful life unless the galloping nature of the mind is reigned in and the never-ending debates stop.

Even in the case of spiritual matters, you have your minds packed with all sorts of information, the words of this Master and that. Your inner chatter is shaped based on this information, too. As a first step, throw away into the trash can of your mind all this stinking garbage which you have accumulated unnecessarily! More importantly, ensure that you do not accumulate any further garbage.

The beauty of your pure inner self will then be revealed in your face.

The beauty of your pure mind will then be revealed in your speech.

Cleanse your mind – your speech will automatically become attractive. Those who have hated you will begin to love you. It is the first step you can take towards spiritual growth.

Nithyanandam!

2006-09-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

A traditional couplet sung in adoration of Existential Bliss:

Nithyanandam Paramasukhadam Kevalam Gnana Murtim

Dwandwatitam Gaganasadrisham Tattvamasyadi Lakshyam

Ekam Nithyam Vimalamachalam Sarvadhi Sakshibhutam

Bhavatitam Trigunarahitam Satgurum Tam Namami

Salutations (Tam Namami), to the Existential energy that dispels the darkness of illusion (Satgurum); the energy that is free, and beyond the three gunas, the modifications of matter: Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas (Trigunarahitam); that transcends all mental conception (Bhavatitam); that is so completely awake that there is no imprint left in the apparatus of memory - only movement of awareness of actuality, and no false assumptions, ascriptions and abstractions owing to the mind (Sarvadhi Sakshibhutam).

Salutations to the Existential energy of Awareness that is without any contamination from the divisiveness of embodied consciousness (Vimalam); and therefore extremely still and tranquil (Achalam); that is eternal, with neither beginning nor end (Nithyam); which is the aloneness or 'all-one'ness (Ekam) without the suffering of loneliness superimposed by illusion, and which is spoken of by the Mahavakya Tat Tvam Asi (Tatvamasyadi Lakshyam).

Salutations to this Energy-Intelligence, that is the emptiness and the wholeness, pervasive like the sky (Gaganasadrisham), beyond all duality, divisions, pairs of opposites, separations, fragmentations, and contradictions of the material universe (Dwandwatitam).

The manifestation and complete expression of this Energy and wisdom in a human body (Kevalam Gnana Murtim) brings supreme happiness (Paramasukhadam) and Eternal Bliss (Nithyanandam)!

The Master's Alchemy

2006-09-03T07:15:00.000-07:00

As students of physics in high school, we performed an experiment that I still remember, which demonstrated a phenomenon called resonance: A metal wire is stretched out on a wooden board between two elevated points. A folded piece of thin paper, called a rider, is placed on this wire. Next, a series of tuning forks of known frequencies are struck and pressed at one end of the fixed wire until the fork with the exact frequency as the wire's inherent vibratory frequency is employed. This causes the wire to vibrate at that very frequency, and in turn makes the paper rider jump dramatically off the wire.

A similar phenomenon is vividly perceived with Indian musical instruments like the tanpura and sitar, which have drone strings which spontaneously vibrate and produce sound through mere "sympathetic resonance" with the string which is plucked, to produce a most pleasing, rich, meditative tonality.

This phenomenon of resonance serves to illustrate the secret underlying the transformation produced by a skilled Satguru in the student. The essence of Vedanta wisdom is contained in the principal Upanishads. The very word Upanishad means to "sit near". The Vedic Gurukul system was an austere, yet remarkably effective means of awakening the student to his or her own divine nature as Brahman. The disciples merely had to be around the Guru for an extended period of time, either in active study and listening to truths expounded by the Master, or in various activities which were designed by the skilled Guru which awakened the latent potential of each individual student in the fastest, most effective manner.

Transmission of wisdom, Brahmajnana, happens in a manner which almost appears to be supernatural. This is true alchemy, this is spiritual resonance , where higher spiritual vibrations are transferred from Being to Being, with words becoming unnecessary. This is the hallmark of the Vedic Satguru tradition. The fire of wisdom which the Guru embodies has the power to cause the spontaneous combustion of the latent sparks in each student into independent fires, until they grow into a blaze of that same intensity.

A true Master, or Satguru, thus creates many Masters worthy of his lineage, who in turn are able to carry the torch of wisdom and set ablaze those ready for being in divine harmony with the Truth.

Beloved One

2006-08-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Beloved One, was there ever a time, when my heart did not feel glad in your joys, and sorrow in your pain?

Beloved One, was there ever a time when you were not I, and I you?

Beloved One, don’t you know, that when dark clouds fill the sky of your mind, I wait in prayer, knowing that they shall soon burst open, and let flood the torrential rain that releases all pain?

And, don’t you know, that the bright Sun waits to shine, to show your mind that light has removed all your illusions of darkness?

Beloved One, trust with your heart that you are eternally prayed for, that you are never forsaken, because wholeness is your very Being.

Inner Encounters

2006-07-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

Have you sat with yourself, and deeply examined your innermost mechanisms? Of late I find myself doing that every quiet moment I get, and aided by where things are going in my life, I have found it to be a profoundly educational experience in uncovering old reactionary habit patterns which are often tightly bound with a strong emotional component. Often, while sitting in meditation I was slipping into an inner pattern of avoiding certain rising subtle impressions which created conflict and disturbance, instead of observing them with a pure attitude of detached witnessing.

When reflecting with eyes open, and facilitated by encounters in the outer world with people in my life, I was able to identify my inner drives and needs so starkly, honestly, and clearly, that the mere acknowledgment and recognition was enough to free me from the pain I was self-creating. You could try it too. Be patient and gentle and loving with yourself through the process. What is your fundamental drive? What are you seeking? Is it unconditional love? Or perhaps you value absolute freedom over everything else. If it is enlightenment, why so? What do you perceive to be "obstacles" to this liberating state? What can you unclutch from and accept in your life to be only the blessings of the Divine? We might not always get what we want, but we always get what we need. To be open to this amazing grace in every moment is to recognize that everything truly is perfect.

The Pendulum Of Emotion

2006-07-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

Bliss is pure awareness in the moment, and the process of flowing with the inherent perfect-ness of each moment which segues into the next. Any other kind of seeking must necessarily end in pain and discontent, because it presupposes that life is somehow imperfect and needs fixing. Running away helter skelter, and indulging in spiritual escapism in order to flee from where we presently are, from each moment to the next, creates more suffering for us than simply acknowledging that everything is perfect just as is.

Following is an extract from the book Merging with Siva, and a teaching which I am sure will resonate with most of us when we examine our motives and behavior in seeking happiness and unalloyed bliss.

"Man, awareness, seeks happiness, and when he finds happiness, he often finds fault with it, and then he becomes aware in unhappy areas of the mind. This gives him the power to seek happiness again. Man finds fault with happiness and begins to look for something better. In looking for something better, he becomes selfish, greedy, unhappy, and finally he attains what he thinks will make him happy. He finds that it does not, and this makes him again unhappy, and he goes on through life like this. That is the cycle of awareness traveling through the instinctive-intellectual areas of the mind. Therefore, when you are unhappy, don't feel unhappy about it! And when you become happy, know that the pendulum of awareness will eventually swing to its counter side. This is the natural and the normal cycle of awareness."

Tat Tvam Asi

2006-06-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

Tat Tvam Asi:
thou art that --
that leaf, that tree,
that cow, that cat,
that cloud, that sky,
that moon, that sun,
that you, that I --
for all are one.
So here you are
and there you go
and who you were
you hardly know.

I think this I
is only me:
a drip, a drop,
but not the sea.
Yet when I wake
from all these dreams,

then, like the snake,
I'll shed what seems:
this mask, this skin,
this ball and chain.
I will begin
to fall like rain.

Our heart's last home:
the wind-whipped foam,
the sweet, deep sea.
Tat Tvam Asi.

-- from Silent Awareness

Time and Mind

2006-05-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

Hindu mythology of creation talks about how the universe is created each time the Creator Brahma blinks! Millions of human years, called yugas, pass by between each blink of the Creator. Sages of ancient India measured time through the concept of kshana. Kshana is not chronological time. It was not measured as the amplitude of a pendulum or the frequency of an electronic chip. Kshana is not generic time, but individual time. Kshana is the time between two thoughts. My kshana and your kshana are different. In the case of the average person, in whom the mind is constantly active, in whom desires and thoughts pour out without a stop, the time between two thoughts is very little, very very little. In the case of an enlightened being, who is in a no-mind state, in whom there are no thoughts, kshana is infinite.
Kshana is the time and the space between two thoughts. This is the time and space that Buddha referred to as sunya, and which Sankara referred to as purna. It is the no-mind zone, the zone of awareness, in which you touch base with yourself. It is that present moment in which you come face to face with the divinity within yourself, and recognize the cosmic energy that you are part of.

When you are in that kshana, you are truly aware; you are energized and refreshed. Meditation takes you into that awareness. When you sit in the presence of an enlightened Master who lives in the no-mind state without thoughts, your own thoughts automatically slow down, and kshana becomes longer. Without even trying, you become calmer, more peaceful, and more aware.

When the mind stops, time stops too; it stands still. Contrary to what western philosophers say the idle mind is not the Devil's workshop. If it silent, it is God's workshop! It is the busy mind that is truly the Devil's workshop. Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am". That is an irrelevant fact. You cannot reach the state of awareness of who you are through thinking. You need to transcend the mind, you need to drop the mind to be aware of who you are. Hindu scriptures say that when you stop thinking, you are. This is truth; the cosmic truth. Be still and you will be God.

-- Paramahamsa Nithyananda

The Balance Between Effort and Non-effort

2006-05-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

Having recently written about the concept that a spiritual aspirant or seeker need "do nothing", I thought I would further touch upon the Divine grace which flows regardless of effort or non-effort in everyone's lives.

While Nithyananda conducts the Acharya's training program, I find myself alone, seemingly separated by distance from my Guru. I made a decision when this period of separation begain, to go into silence, thinking that it would enable myself to connect more strongly with the presence of the Master (which I acknowledged, at least theoretically, was not limited by geographic or time-space constraints). Three days into the experiment, a friend alerted me to what the Master said about my vow, about which I had already personally informed Him prior to undertaking, "the cool breeze of the Master is always flowing irrespective of whether you are physically present or not. But by doing such things you obstruct that cool breeze."

These words created a tremendous shift in my awareness when I heard them, perhaps helped by the fact that I had created an energetic receptivity through my silence. It occured to me, how by this creation of unnatural effort, I was trying to take matters into my own hands, so to speak, completely driven by ego, or the sense of doership. In reality, my connection with the Master was never broken, despite the emotional upheaval at seeming separation. The Guru-disciple connection is the most sacred bond, forged for all eternity, in this life and beyond. How could anything ever sever it? Does not Nithyananda promise, "I will always be with you?", and had I not experienced that connection in every moment, with every breath?

Nithyananda further clarified, "all your sadhana is essential only upto the point when you meet the Master; after that point it becomes redundant, and even an obstacle. Just relax and let the Master work on the tumor of the ego. When I put my hand on it, you might run away because of the pain, but then I won't leave you. I will use anesthesia and perform the surgery. It will take more time but it will happen without pain. So allow me to work." The beauty of this incident lies in the fact that I was not stopped from following my own mind; experience in this case was the best teacher.

Only a relaxed, easy flowing with the moment remains necessary once the Guru has entered one's consciousness. All else is truly taken care of by the Divine. One learns to function as an unconcerned entity, detached from a sense of personal doership from this point onward. One continues to "do" things, including meditation and worship practices, yet remains a "non-doer" and recognizes that nobody was ever the doer!

The Principle Behind Temples

2006-04-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

Devotion (Bhakti), Cosmic energy (Shakti) and liberation (Mukti) are all intricately woven and connected to one another. Fulfillment of devotion is the revelation of energy; fulfillment of Energy is the revelation of liberation. Your quantum of absorption of devotion determines the quantum of absorption of Energy.

Usually, in most cases, there is no relationship between real devotion and what we think is devotion. If devotion is expressed in the form of seeking personal favors from God, by asking for various material comforts and asking that problems be given solutions, it is only a business deal, not true devotion!

True devotion means bubbling with devotional emotion transcending the feeling of thanksgiving expressed for the many, many blessings showered upon us all our lives. Even our very birth is such a blessing. Can we truly say we have earned this birth, and the ability to enjoy life? Praising and thanking the divine force from the depths of your heart, breathing deeply at that very moment, and feeling the bliss of life: that alone is true devotion.

Why do we feel a sense of peace upon returning home after we have gone to a temple and sat there for a while? Why do we also feel a sense of peace even after returning home when we have just sat in a beautiful scenic atmosphere? The reason is because we have enriched ourselves with energy. Unpolluted energy is always found in nature, in a scenic and beautiful atmosphere. Our body gets refreshed and our mind becomes calm only because our body and mind get energized by nature similar to a battery getting charged.

When a person goes to a temple, church, mosque or any other place of worship, and prays with a state of sincere devotion (sincere devotion is meditation), unknowingly he stands before the divine presence with a wide open heart. Every sanctum sanctorum inside these establishments is a small energy centre. If we keep our hearts and minds open, then, as per the law of nature, cosmic energy descends and fills us up to make up any deficiency of energy within us. Going to temples gives satisfaction to many mainly account of this.

How and from where do these temples derive divine energy?

Whenever an enlightened Master establishes and plants an idol or any thing at a particular sacred location, his experiential divine energy will continue to flow there forever. We can understand this from many examples:

Every enlightened Master leaves a particular type of energy in each temple he establishes; all famous temples in India are unique due to this reason alone. The sacred installation of the presiding deity at the holy town of Tirupathi was done by an enlightened Master named Konganava, while it was Bogar, another enlightened Master, who established the hill temple of Palani, and it was Idaik Kattu Siddhar who established the Tiruvannamalai temple, which symbolizes the Fire form of divine energy. The temple at Chidambaram, a shrine to the Air element of Cosmic energy was established by the great Master Patanjali.

The reason that millions of people visit Mecca each year is the divine energy that was released therein by the enlightened master Mohammed. It is only because of the benefits derived from that divine energy, which resulted in fulfilled desires etc, that pilgrims continue to visit the place again and again. The same is true in case of the major pilgrimage spots in India; due to the presence of the divine energy there, each person feels enhanced devotion and spiritual upliftment.

Devotion is the key to experiencing the energy! Energy is the entrance door to liberation!

It is not important which temple or place of worship you go to, but it is very important whether you get a feeling of true devotion deep within you or not. Without a sense of true devotion if a person goes to a temple just because his parents or somebody asks him to go, or just performs it only as a duty, then even if he calls himself a theist, he is, in fact, an atheist. Such people will remain theists only for name's sake, but deep in their hearts, they will remain only atheists.

It is only because we become enriched by the energy field present in the temples, that when we go and sit and meditate there with true devotion, our body gets refreshed and we get peace of mind. All restlessness of the mind, all craving and discontentment, all tiredness and feelings of dullness, and even all physical health problems are owing to an energy imbalance in the chakras. Meditation is one method which enables you to make use of the energy which remains dormant in you. Visiting temples and remaining there in the divine presence with a pure, devotional mind is another easy method which takes the energy present outside and feeds your body and mind.

Involve yourself totally and fully in whatever you do. When you go to a temple, do not return without sitting there calmly and meditating at least for half an hour. It will produce a tremendous change in you, and set you on your way to Nithya Ananda, Eternal Bliss!

-- Paramahamsa Nithyananda

Impermanence is Extremely Swift

2006-04-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

"Respectfully state to everyone: Life and death are of utmost importance and Impermanence is extremely swift. Wake up, everyone, ignore nothing."

-- Sign at the entrace to a Zendo (Zen meditation temple)

Open the Door - Let the Breeze In!

2006-04-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

This is the first in a series of articles which will be posted, culled from translations of the original Tamil discourses given by Nithyananda. They are delivered in his disarming and deceptively simple style, but with some spiritual significance to meditate upon.

One night, a Zen Master stood by the side of a river, watching the beauty of its flow. The moon and the stars were reflected in the waters, and there was peace all around. On the bank of the same river, a little distance away, lived a man who was restless and had no time for the river, moon and stars. He was depressed, fed up with life and moaned inside his dark hut, "Oh life is miserable! Life is miserable!"

The Zen Master heard this man and called out, "No, my friend, life is full of joy. Come out of the hut and see. Only then will you know."

There was no response.

The Master continued, "Keep your door open, and let the breeze come in. The breeze which comes towards you will bring you out into happiness."

Yet, there was no response.

Suddenly, the Master screamed, "Oh God... Oh God... Danger! Danger! Your hut is on fire!"

The moment the man heard this, he came rushing out of the hut.

The Master took him by his hand and showed him the stars in the sky. After looking at the beautiful moon, the twinkling of the stars and the calmly flowing river, the man admired them and stood there blissfully.

Like this man, most of us do not respond when a Master tells us, "Come out of your shelter, you will enjoy bliss."

If one has no belief in God there is no use telling that person, "You can realize the divine and get salvation." The only way that this person will ever listen is when he is alerted that his house is on fire. Shouting out, "Danger! Your house is on fire" is only a technique to bring the non-believer out.

A human being is like a silk worm that builds a cocoon around itself from which it cannot escape. A man, while living with miseries, builds walls, thinking that he is building a beautiful house. Once built, he finds it is a jail, and does not know how to break out of it; he lacks the courage to break it.

If the seed is afraid of bursting open, no tree can arise out of it. If the worm is afraid to tear open its cocoon, it cannot come out and fly in the sky freely as a butterfly. If you are afraid to open the door, you cannot let the breeze inside.

Have courage, open the door, and let the breeze in.

Reality Beyond Words and Action

2006-03-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

Ultimately, my words are only intellectual gymnastics. So, while I take a break from writing, here are some beautiful and practical pointers from the AshtAvakra Gita, a treatise that is the pure, distilled essence of Advaita. Contemplate on these truths with sincerity and surrender, and you shall awaken to your true nature!

"If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of oneself as bound, one is bound. Here this saying is true, 'Thinking makes it so'."

"The strongest fetter is the certainty that one is bound. It is as false as the fearful hallucinations of a frightened child."

"Effort towards Realization is like the attempt to stamp with one's foot on the shadow cast by one's head. Effort will always make it recede."

"The body, heaven and hell, bondage and liberation, and fear too, all this is pure imagination. What is there left to do for me whose very nature is consciousness?"

"Shining is my essential nature, and I am nothing other than that. When the world shines forth, it is only me that is shining forth."

The text of this book, and also the Tripura Rahasya, another magnificent and practical treatise on Reality, can be found in the Spiritual Links section to the right.

Losing Yourself to Find Your Self

2006-03-28T10:49:00.000-08:00

Instruction from a spiritual Master to contemplate deeply upon:

"Surrender is the overflowing energy of perception whereas subservience is the overbearing entanglement with pretentions. Surrender is losing yourself (fallacy of mind) to find yourself (fullness of life). Surrender of 'I-ness' is the surfacing of 'Is-ness'. It is ending of becoming and emergence of Being.

Surrender to Guru Process.
Don't be subservient to guru personality.
Be available to Guru Process.
Don't be attached to guru personality."

Relax to Realize

2006-03-23T17:46:00.000-08:00

A recent conversation with a dear friend has inspired this present article.

Like many so-called seekers, I started my journey into spirituality by being initiated into Transcendental Meditation. Through this bija mantra-based approach to meditation, I made my initial foray into the inner space of mind. Meditation sparked in me a deep curiosity, and fascination with spiritual truths, and I started reading voraciously about Yoga and learning about its methods and results. What I did not realize at that point, was that I was creating a fantasy of what it must mean to become realized, to become enlightened, and liberated. Comparing my life with that of Masters who had realized the ultimate truth, all sorts of ideas and expectations filled my mind. I flirted with various techniques, including japa and kriya yoga, in the hopes that I was somehow "accelerating" my evolution. Ah, how misguided was I!

It reached a climax when I had exhausted and grown frustrated with self-efforts, and the Divine manifested the Satguru in the form of a living Master in my life. It was only after I was initiated into the Ananda Gandha - that causeless, timeless, spaceless space where the Divine Self exists - that true surrender to my real nature began to flower.

I once said, in a moment of frustration, to Nithyananda, "I don't want to do anything", followed immediately by the question, "what (sadhana, practice) should I do?" He replied, "If I give you some practice to do, it will only strengthen your ego". The true value of His statement becomes increasingly clear the more I am able to simply relax into my Self, free from ideation, free from longing, free from expectation and free from anxiety at not "achieving".

As Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi said, "He who instructs an ardent seeker to do this or that is not a true master. The seeker is already afflicted by his activities and wants peace and rest. In other words he wants cessation of his activities. If a teacher tells him to do something in addition to, or in place of, his other activities, can that be a help to the seeker?

Activity is creation. Activity is the destruction of one's inherent happiness. If activity is advocated the adviser is not a master but a killer...such a person cannot liberate the aspirant; he can only strengthen his fetters."

This is the real secret. The very relaxation into an utterly passive state of waiting allows the grace of the Satguru, the Divine inner Guru, to flow unabated in our Being. All tension and yearning then dissolves, and what remains is the witness, what always was the Divine Self.

Healing the Inner Child

2006-03-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

Living in this world, the pure, joyous child in each of us gets thrown into a whirlpool of damaging influences which remain embedded in the consciousness and start expressing more perceptibly at the level of the mind (manomaya kosha and pranamaya kosha) as pain, guilt and anger, and at the level of the physical body (annamaya kosha) as illness and disease. It is such a tragedy that as a society we invest so much in appearing as beautiful people, while ignoring this dark negativity we keep harboring within, and even accepting willingly, despite intuitively knowing the effects it has on our pure Being.

It is only by first connecting with our own inner child that we can really expect to have any positive and nurturing impact on children and youth in society, so that they too might grow as joyous, free, and wise guardians of pure spiritual knowledge, as architects of their Divine heritage.

By and large, it is the common experience of many meditators that traditional-style meditation practices involving sitting and transcending thought impulses do not seem to extend their ability to create inner content and bliss to our outer spheres of activity on a deep and lasting basis. It is almost as if two separate realities exist; the pure silent space which we contact during deep meditation, and the outer chaotic life. The reason for this split being that unless inner negativity is purged completely and consistently by techniques such as those incorporated in the Life Bliss Program, and damaging patterns of self-conflict are identified, sitting in silence or doing some breathing kriyas or pranayam is like treating only the symptoms and not the root cause.

A good adjunct practice to a spiritual life is beginning the process of nurturing and healing the inner child. Gazing at the body with love and compassion upon waking up every morning and touching it lovingly, just as a baby would, and doing an Ayurvedic-style full body self-massage, or abhyanga, with warm sesame oil before a shower, are a couple of approaches which can help connect our pure, compassionate higher Self with the child within, and help our entire Being to feel the loving presence of the Divine in a tangible way.

Awakening to the Divinity Within

2006-03-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a most momentous occasion for the 100-odd lucky ones who attended the first ever Dhyana Spurana Program conducted by Nithyananda. True to His promise, Swamiji magically triggered an awakening to Reality, to the pure truth of the higher Self in each and every one in a most effortless manner. There was pure energy being showered upon us by the peerless Master, and all we had to do was just be, to allow the alchemy to happen at the deepest layers of our being in ways unseen, but yet felt very clearly by our bodies and minds.

From the very first "meditation" it was astoundingly clear that this was going to be no ordinary program involving feel-good breathwork and other such traditionally limited approaches which serve only to sedate the mind. This was pure Tantra, pure handling by the Master of the energies of Existence, of Parashakti, in facilitating the awakening of the inherent Divinity in everyone by practically creating an awareness of unclutching from all thought and producing a sacred space of silence within, in which we could live and recreate ourselves anew.

For the first time ever in my life, I feel in control of my destiny. All inner conflict has died, and useless thoughts have ceased. I am able to watch the never ending modifications of my mind through the lens of awareness, and am able to unclutch myself from habitual patterns in a most Zen-like manner. On a practical plane, this has freed a tremendous amount of energy, and has created a most blissful state, an ocean of silence within. The words below, from the Book of Mirdad, could just as easily have been uttered by Nithyananda, and are about as close as words could get to explaining this radical transformation which has happened.

"The silence I would usher you into is that interminable expanse wherein non-being passes into being, and being into non-being. It is that awesome void where every sound is born and hushed and every form is crushed; where every self is writ and unwrit; where nothing is but IT.

Except you cross that void and that expanse in silent contemplation, you shall not know how real is your being, how unreal the non-being. Nor shall you know how fast your reality is bound up with all Reality. It is that Silence I would have you roam, that you may shed your old tight skin and move about unfettered, unrestrained."

If you are a new reader who has chanced upon this piece, let it be clear that this is no accident. It is just one piece of the cosmic jigsaw puzzle which could prove a turning point in your life, just as it did in mine; I urge you to explore Nithyananda's programs being held this year in the US, India and elsewhere. May the energies of Love spread like wildfire over our planet, and may all of humanity awaken to its Divinity soon!

Unclutched from Pleasure and Pain

2006-02-28T18:21:00.000-08:00

On a subtle level, as spiritual seekers, we all like to congratulate ourselves on our "accomplishments", having a sense of quiet pride in having come farther to the "goal" as we understand, in our quest for unalloyed bliss. And then the Master deals a swift blow, which shatters all our ideas and preconceived notions, and leaves us exposed to the true understanding that all such thoughts and ideas are random, illogical, disconnected.

As part of the discourses on Shiva Sutras being delivered this year in Los Angeles, Nithyananda dropped a spiritual bombshell which shook everyone to the core. Towards the conclusion of the evening, when He said to me on stage with a broad smile on his face, "So, today you finally understood all about your Vedanta!", I was stunned! How did He know? Yet, it was true. A great joy surged that evening in the hearts of everyone who experienced the profound truths He delivered in contemporary terms, with beautifully eloquent clarity.

We are the silent gap between thoughts, but we connect happy thoughts arising from disparate memories of events into a shaft, in an attempt to prolong our experience of joy. Experiencing happiness when we date the opposite sex, we try to prolong it into our idea of permanence by getting married, but when the inevitable disappointments arrive in our lives, we latch onto painful experiences in much the same manner and create another shaft of pain. Our understanding of time is chronological, and along similar lines do we create shafts of pleasure and pain, while forgetting that we are the pure gaps, beyond time and space, that we are pure awareness, pure Being, between any thoughts which ebb and flow.

The basic misunderstanding of the true nature of our Being makes us foolishly live in these illusory shafts of pleasure and pain, and causes us to swing wildly like a pendulum, while in reality we are always free from this self-imposed suffering - ever unclutched, ever untouched, ever centered in pure, silent Bliss. If only we can relearn to be unclutched from our false personality, our opinions, our pre-programmed ideas, we shall soar in the skies as Divine Paramahamsas!

Nithyananda on Enlightenment and the Master

2006-02-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

Paramahamsa Nithyananda addresses some common questions.

Question: What is enlightenment?

Answer: This question was asked to me by an Oklahoma scientist: "Swamiji we have been working in this field for the last 30 years. Everyone says that it cannot be explained. Please give us a clear-cut answer." I told them, "In a true sense, it cannot be explained, but I can mention a few qualities of enlightenment. First thing: thoughtlessness; there is no inner chattering. Second thing: boundarilessness; the idea that my body ends here and your body starts there is absent. Third thing: a tremendous ecstasy, a deep inner ecstasy. Fourth thing: The basic idea of whether I am male or female, is absent. These are the four things that I experience in my life as enlightenment. And according to their research, they say that all these four things are reflecting neurologically.

Question: Do you feel it is important for a seeker to have different Masters, in order not to get compartmentalized into one single philosophy or ideology?

Answer: Yes, it is important for a seeker to undergo at least 10 to 15 different traditions. Then he/she will be able to understand which exactly suits him/her. Even people who come to me I encourage them to go around. I never say, "Don't go anywhere, stop here". I say, "Go around, then you will really find who really suits you".

However, once you find your Master don't bother about anything else, go deeply into him. When you find the right Master, you will move beyond doubt, beyond your intellect, you will just fall in love with him. That is what I call finding the right Master. Even in my case, people come and ask me, "Swamiji, should I accept you as my Guru or not?" I tell them, "If you have that question please do not accept me. If you are supposed to be my disciple the very question will disappear. You will simply fall for me. If that is the case, I am your Master. If that is not, don't bother; start searching. Go ahead, continue".

Where your logic fails, where your doubt dies, is your Master. If you still have the question in your mind, "Should I accept you or not?", never accept. People ask me, "Swamiji, should I remember you?" to which I say, "No, never do that. You will never be able to forget me if you are supposed to remember me; if that is the case, the intimacy or the relationship will be such that you will never be able to forget me. If I am really your Master you will see that you will not be able to forget me. I will be in your mind, I will be in your dream, I will be in your sleep. You will simply be thinking of me and dreaming of me. If really you are going to be helped by me there is no need for you to take any step. You will simply see, I'll be there with you.

Resonance with the Divine Guru

2006-02-23T10:32:00.000-08:00

It was a unique mixture of feelings and emotions with which I stood with friends at the ashram to welcome back the physical presence of our beloved Guru, Swamiji, back in our lives; a melange of love and joy, filtered through pain at having not been "perfect" in my intentions to be in harmony with my Master.

Oh, how long, before I can live the truths I know only too well in the depths of my heart? How long before I have no conflict between thought, word and deed? How long before I resonate with the Guru, so that a word spoken, a glance thrown my way acts like a catalyst to trigger the bliss and ecstacy of God-communion? Oh Lord, may I be drenched with the Divine grace that pours from Your form. May I resonate with you in pure harmony, may my words and actions be Yours, and may my love and devotion for You be ever perfect.