Long time, eh? It seems most of my posts begin with "long time, eh?", eh? Oh well.
So, the trip to the ashram was not exactly earth-shattering. I came back pretty much in the same condition as I had gone except for the fatigue and a copper ring shaped as a snake. For three and a half days we were all barefoot and only occasionally got a cushion to sit on. Fortunately there was bedding to sleep on the floor. Close to 150 people, one huge hall, which we left only for eating and toileting needs. The heat, the mosquitoes (I pretty much bathed in Odomos :)), the physical discomfort, no contact with anything outside, just the hall and the garden, and most importantly, the Guru.
The funny thing I realized is that when your body reaches the breaking point, the mind seems to relinquish its grip. You are finally free from all the nagging thoughts that never cease buzzing and reach a mental plane where you can finally sit down and contemplate on what really matters, the truth of your being.
As Sadhguru constantly reminds, "You are not the body, you are not the mind." They are mere tools for your real self to utilize in attaining something much higher than a good mortal experience.
And then I came across a book, "I am That" by Sri Nisargadatta. Reading it is a whole new experience. In Sadhguru's books the answers are presented as flowers being thrown at you. In Sri Nisargadatta's books the same answers come at you like bullets, almost making you wince. The man is what Sadhguru describes how a true guru should be, not giving a damn about the disciple except that he achieves realization.
What is most interesting is that Sri Nisargadatta seems to describe the human chain of events one crazier step beyond quantum theory. According to the latter there are an infinite number of universes existing simultaneously in an infinite number of states and across infinite timelines. Furthermore, there is no relationship between cause and effect. Effect can precede cause or not have any at all and cause may or may not result in effect.
Sri Nisargadatta says that in human life both cause and effect are merely states of consciousness, they have no place in reality.
Which prompts me to blog. Tra la.
Does the human mind mature as we grow or regress? The knowledge that we acquire over the span of our life is an accumulation of what others knew before us. So in a sense, just like we accumulate everything else, so do we accumulate what passes as knowledge. From this point of view, we are not learning anything except to repeat what others have repeated, ad infinitum. And if our life is a sum total of our decisions, thoughts, feelings, and so on - we are merely repeating the lives of others. Where does this leave "my" life?
Our decisions are based on past experience, experience comes through interactions with others, they too are mere repeaters. A newborn infant has but a handful of emotions, emotions are again grown on the field of experience. What passes as thought is again in the grip of experience. We can only process what we perceive through the five senses, and they are bound to the mind and the mind relies on memory, the aggregate of which is experience.
So are we living or merely repeating?
They say that thing about the idle mind being the devil's playground. Could it be that needless activity is also prey to the same symptom? Needless not because it is useless to the physical form but needless as in it keeps us occupied outwards.
This will probably sound all wrong to someone who is yet to look inward but this constant "out" business is quite likely the biggest and long-lasting plague from which humanity is suffering.
My mind (for lack of a better word) is currently churning this constantly. Why cannot a human being just sit and be still with eyes closed for a few minutes a day, a conscious sleep-state, if you will, and engage in doing nothing.
We are constantly complaining of boredom despite all that we have for our so-called entertainment. It looks so obvious to me that no one is bored. People deliberately choose to be in a state of boredom. A state where for some reason they cannot indulge in some kind of activity, even if it is just sitting in front of the telly with nothing on their mind except their scalp.
The need to constantly do something has become so deeply ingrained in what nowadays goes under the pseudonym of human nature that if for even a few moments that need is not fulfilled chaos sets in. A weird sort of chaos where the bored human is utterly befuddled by the question, "what now?"
I am not advocating laziness. However, just as there is physical inertia, there is thought-process inertia. The mind by its nature needs something to work on. Slowing it down from a high speed is a tremendous effort because whatever speed it reaches, it stays there, as it functions in a frictionless and resistance-free environment. In that state if there is nothing to process, it goes nuts. It is not healthy for something to keep going at this pace. When we run, our heart rate goes up. Stop, and it comes down slowly. Now, what if like the mind it just stayed high even when someone is sitting comfortably? How long would the body last.
I am not advocating universal meditativeness either.
The point being conveyed is merely that boredom can be a useful state if utilized properly. In fact, I would say meditation is the ultimate state of boredom, where you mind is not doing one darn thing.
Boredom, when looked at the point of view of not having anything to do as a problem is obviously not a good thing. However, when looked at as an opportunity to consciously, voluntarily, deliberately, and in full awareness to not do anything is a blessing in disguise.
So the next time you are bored, ponder a bit on whether you should ponder at all.
The rapids are exciting as long as you are in the boat. Not so good if you want to dive in. For that you need calmer waters. Boredom is the calm between the rapids. It is the time to dive in and have a cleansing bath :)
So, the trip to the ashram was not exactly earth-shattering. I came back pretty much in the same condition as I had gone except for the fatigue and a copper ring shaped as a snake. For three and a half days we were all barefoot and only occasionally got a cushion to sit on. Fortunately there was bedding to sleep on the floor. Close to 150 people, one huge hall, which we left only for eating and toileting needs. The heat, the mosquitoes (I pretty much bathed in Odomos :)), the physical discomfort, no contact with anything outside, just the hall and the garden, and most importantly, the Guru.
The funny thing I realized is that when your body reaches the breaking point, the mind seems to relinquish its grip. You are finally free from all the nagging thoughts that never cease buzzing and reach a mental plane where you can finally sit down and contemplate on what really matters, the truth of your being.
As Sadhguru constantly reminds, "You are not the body, you are not the mind." They are mere tools for your real self to utilize in attaining something much higher than a good mortal experience.
And then I came across a book, "I am That" by Sri Nisargadatta. Reading it is a whole new experience. In Sadhguru's books the answers are presented as flowers being thrown at you. In Sri Nisargadatta's books the same answers come at you like bullets, almost making you wince. The man is what Sadhguru describes how a true guru should be, not giving a damn about the disciple except that he achieves realization.
What is most interesting is that Sri Nisargadatta seems to describe the human chain of events one crazier step beyond quantum theory. According to the latter there are an infinite number of universes existing simultaneously in an infinite number of states and across infinite timelines. Furthermore, there is no relationship between cause and effect. Effect can precede cause or not have any at all and cause may or may not result in effect.
Sri Nisargadatta says that in human life both cause and effect are merely states of consciousness, they have no place in reality.
Which prompts me to blog. Tra la.
Does the human mind mature as we grow or regress? The knowledge that we acquire over the span of our life is an accumulation of what others knew before us. So in a sense, just like we accumulate everything else, so do we accumulate what passes as knowledge. From this point of view, we are not learning anything except to repeat what others have repeated, ad infinitum. And if our life is a sum total of our decisions, thoughts, feelings, and so on - we are merely repeating the lives of others. Where does this leave "my" life?
Our decisions are based on past experience, experience comes through interactions with others, they too are mere repeaters. A newborn infant has but a handful of emotions, emotions are again grown on the field of experience. What passes as thought is again in the grip of experience. We can only process what we perceive through the five senses, and they are bound to the mind and the mind relies on memory, the aggregate of which is experience.
So are we living or merely repeating?
They say that thing about the idle mind being the devil's playground. Could it be that needless activity is also prey to the same symptom? Needless not because it is useless to the physical form but needless as in it keeps us occupied outwards.
This will probably sound all wrong to someone who is yet to look inward but this constant "out" business is quite likely the biggest and long-lasting plague from which humanity is suffering.
My mind (for lack of a better word) is currently churning this constantly. Why cannot a human being just sit and be still with eyes closed for a few minutes a day, a conscious sleep-state, if you will, and engage in doing nothing.
We are constantly complaining of boredom despite all that we have for our so-called entertainment. It looks so obvious to me that no one is bored. People deliberately choose to be in a state of boredom. A state where for some reason they cannot indulge in some kind of activity, even if it is just sitting in front of the telly with nothing on their mind except their scalp.
The need to constantly do something has become so deeply ingrained in what nowadays goes under the pseudonym of human nature that if for even a few moments that need is not fulfilled chaos sets in. A weird sort of chaos where the bored human is utterly befuddled by the question, "what now?"
I am not advocating laziness. However, just as there is physical inertia, there is thought-process inertia. The mind by its nature needs something to work on. Slowing it down from a high speed is a tremendous effort because whatever speed it reaches, it stays there, as it functions in a frictionless and resistance-free environment. In that state if there is nothing to process, it goes nuts. It is not healthy for something to keep going at this pace. When we run, our heart rate goes up. Stop, and it comes down slowly. Now, what if like the mind it just stayed high even when someone is sitting comfortably? How long would the body last.
I am not advocating universal meditativeness either.
The point being conveyed is merely that boredom can be a useful state if utilized properly. In fact, I would say meditation is the ultimate state of boredom, where you mind is not doing one darn thing.
Boredom, when looked at the point of view of not having anything to do as a problem is obviously not a good thing. However, when looked at as an opportunity to consciously, voluntarily, deliberately, and in full awareness to not do anything is a blessing in disguise.
So the next time you are bored, ponder a bit on whether you should ponder at all.
The rapids are exciting as long as you are in the boat. Not so good if you want to dive in. For that you need calmer waters. Boredom is the calm between the rapids. It is the time to dive in and have a cleansing bath :)
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