Sadhana

From my experience, Enlightenment is a single or a small series of sparks that show us the light within. This light leads us to look into the microcosm of our being.

So, In a spiritual journey – what is the most essential? Enlightenment or Spiritual Discipline?

All our lives we are fully external, our senses are running behind the sense objects. Eyes want some beautiful object, ears want to hear something wonderful, tongue needs delicacies, skin wants the touch of the beloved, nose wants fragrances, Ego wants respect, heart looks for outwardly love. These senses and activities of the lower mind create memories which lead to raga and dvesha – attraction and aversion. And our entire lives are spent in this push and pull of attraction and aversion.

And Enlightenment is the sudden feeling of opening of a cave within ourselves. Sometimes a swift punch across the face which changes every notion we had about our lives and universe in general. Once this cave opens, through discipline in yoga, or with traumatic life experiences, or with drugs or with just luck (read karma) we can be stuck mesmerised by it or keenly working on exploring it.

Enlightement is only a tiny part of our spiritual journey. More and more people get enlightened and have been enlightened. It is the life they choose after enlightenment is what decides where they can reach in their personal journey.

Coming back to ‘senses’.

Looking at Enlightenment objectively is essential, instead of making it some kind of mystical experience and getting entangled with it. When we look at the experience objectively, we can see that the only major change that happens within us is that – our field of vision increases.

When I say field of vision – it is the range/spectrum of our senses. The mind – which was an integral part of our undivisible personality – can now be seen as a third person chattering or fretting about. The point of view is much higher than earlier when we were not enlightened.

Once this happens and we are able to perceive our minds it feels like a split in personality has occured. And this is seconded even in Vedic- Indian texts of Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads, where it is said that WE (our identity) are not our minds, we are always above our mind. The good news about this is that we can witness our minds after this experience.

And mind is only half of the issue. Regulating emotions, passions, thoughts, clashes coming from other people and our surroundings after this life changing experience takes more toll on the individual.

It is not easy to regulate or control our minds unless we are disciplined. The person who experiences this can go insane if not helped by a spiritual guru or teacher who has already gone through such experiences. The help of the guru and personal discipline are the only ways by which we can progress past our deepest spiritual experiences.

That is why the question, Enlightenment or Discipline?

An individual stuck in their past experience cannot go through their spiritual journey by being in their own essense. The mind will always be in the past- looking at that Enlighetenment experience with fervor.

Same goes for all other spiritual experiences that occur within us on this spiritual journey. It is better to let it go to explore more. One can even become a Siddha (One with great spiritual powers and prowess). But in the process of becoming one with the universe, these small energies are merely a molehill to the mountain of our inner being.

Spiritual Discipline is the key to moving forward, with or without Guru. Since these experiences are also in our field of vision now- they are still outwardly experiences. Spiritual discipline is about going above the duality of attraction and aversion to be always balanced in our real essence.

Any discipline is tough love towards ourselves only in the beginning, until it becomes a simple way of life.

With practice.. everyone can do it.

The seeker has been asked by his fellow spiritual brothers and sisters that – why are you stumbling on your path by your own till now? why not follow a living guru and stick to them – why not get some kind of initiation in a particular group of spiritualists?

These questions baffled me, because they were thrown at me at a time when I was thinking about it myself. As if I needed to question myself and contemplate the why’s and what’s of my being alone on this path.

In the end, the answer is – temperament and diving timings – meeting of influential people at the ideal time. I have never been through situations that lead me to a teacher. Also from my perspective – every guru has something to give. The seeker is like a bee traversing through the garden – taking drops of nectar from all the flowers. There is a need to keep moving around. And that might look as suffering to others. But any kind of work done with devotion eradicates suffering. Someone with the temperament of a bee is devoted to the nectar which can come from many different gurus.

These many types of spiritual masters I follow, have their own styles of teaching. Here is the seekers perspective for example – Lets talk about two of the most contrasting styles of spiritual teachers – The intellectual speaker Mr. Jiddu Krishnamurthy(JK) and the preacher of silence Shri. Ramana Maharishi.

One teacher is an active thinker – The one who lives and mingles in the society and yet free – His passionate advice – “Observe what is fluttering in your mind, Know the nature of your desires, contemplate and be with it” This is JK style of contemplation. The way he speaks, the intensity of his emotions when he pronounces words like ‘Desire’, his wrinkly yet calm looking face, his wiry body all speak of his intellectual nature. His very existence speaks of how he has lived by his words all his life.

Other is passive – The saintly – His loving thoughts – “If you have that desire- Who is the one with the desire? Who am I? ‘Nan Yar?’. Keep asking this question until you reach the root of it. And make your mind silent.” This is Ramana Maharishi style of contemplation. His calm smile conveys the deep meaning of silence without uttering a single word.

Even if spiritual ideologies or methods are different still the two spiritual masters at different ends of spectrums still preach the same method – “Observe and contemplate”. The more spiritual teachers I hear or read, I see this pattern everywhere.

As long as we have our senses and a healthy intellect which can discriminate the Truth from untruth, all we need are experiences – they can come from any master, friend, parents or colleagues. There is a prominent vedic story of an Avdhoot – who was self-realized and is a Guru of many historical figures in India – where he says whatever he has realized and learnt is from 24 teachers living in the forest. Nature was his teacher.

Krishna became Arjuna’s guru at his time of need and gave him Self-Knowledge in the form of Bhagwat Gita, which is a book filled with deep philosophy, psychology, spirituality and which also talks about the real nature of our existence. Krishna and Arjuna were both really good friends. In our life too we have to become someone’s Krishna to lift them up or we need someone to be our Krishna at the time of our anxiety.

Now the question that was asked to the seeker remains – why are you suffering, alone, in this path.

Well, that is because the seeker gives himself time to “Observe and contemplate”.

In many spiritual philosophies – be it Advaita Vedanta or Buddhism and many others. There is a concept of ‘Witness identity’ – Do not identify with your thoughts, problems, suffering, but look at them from a ‘witness’ perspective instead of ‘doer’ perspective.

In simple words, it is – taking a Step back, breathing in, looking at it from a broader perspective so that you see the entire elephant instead of only its parts. And then solving the problem at hand.

This kind of un-complicates things after a second of thought. Un-tangles your mind.

Is this not being your own Friend in need?

With this simple method can you not also solve your emotions and your tangled mind by mere observation and contemplation?

Are you not your own Guru when the time comes?

A BIG Note: Observation and Contemplation should be free from distractions – this can be various different things including your emotions. Only a quiet mind can listen to one’s own Wisdom that comes from within – which is your conscious and subconscious coming together to connect the dots and find a solution. And if you are not able to do this by your own accord, a teacher, guru is the best option to get on a fast track to find the peace within.

To hone your observation and contemplation skills – a seeker should sit quietly for sometime every day. Strands of wisdom arrive one by one out of somewhere. Once you have found That teacher within, you are never alone.

This is the first step to the essential spiritual discipline – your Sadhana.

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When a student is ready, the Teacher appears.
When a student is Truly ready, the Teacher dis-appears

Lao Tzu

On this auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima, I humbly prostrate before all my Gurus – the one within and the many in this world, some alive many not, some either seen or heard, some of them friends while others family. The multitude of faces, personalities and life-stories that help us realize the teacher within are my Guru.

For all of them my heart is full of gratitude and devotion. My intellect thanks them for the realization of the knife of viveka (discrimination) within, which splits the truth from the untruth. And finally, I hope my karma works with enthusiasm for spreading their message.

The droplets from the ocean, once evaporated with the heat of the contemplation, need a way to go back to the ocean again. May this blog be a gentle stream of spiritual thoughts that reach your Self.

Om. Peace. Peace. Peace.