BEING AND ATMAN (SOUL)......................

Being and Atman (soul)…………………

There is no difference between the two. Both mean the same. Because of the karmic information or so called karmas which we carry, one has got an individuality as we see and feel – for example; my Being or for that matter the Being of any other form (human or any other creature) and such Being will continue to seek life/birth or body one after the another because of the karmic content or karmas. What we call an atman (soul) is fundamentally the unboundedness which though has no individuality of its own but has got trapped in this individuality only because of karmas. That is exactly the reason that Lord Buddha used the term anatma (non-self) and Lord Mahavira never recognized parmataman as a separate entity but said that atman alone can become a parmataman.

We are n’t even an atman as is said or believed but just a bunch of karmas which is binding us to this limited body. Only because of the karmas we have this separate form or existence though at the being level we all are same and share the same unboundedness/soul/blissfulness. Also karmas is the only reason and the basis for our moving into the cycles i.e. from one birth to the other. As this being or atman evolves or transforms i.e. it becomes completely free of the karmic content then this being loses its individuality and the so called atman (soul) simply merges into the ultimate emptiness to which we know as Parmatman or Mukti or Moksha.

The only way to re-claim the unboundedness and become free of this cycle of birth and re-birth is to fully dismantle the karmas. In this tradition there are many ways to achieve this. One of the ways is of awareness wherein what is done is to strengthen the sense of witnessing or what is known as awareness. What the witnessing, which is real “me”, means is to separate one’s consciousness from the activity which one does and thus become a witness or sakshi to everything. Witnessing stops creating new karmas and also gradually dissolves the old stock of karmas and thus paving the way for “Mukti” or liberation.

Mahasamadhi/Mahaparinirvana/Mukti/Moksha and Liberation in English all mean the same thing i.e. when one attains to this state the Being simply disappears into the ultimate emptiness. Nirvana however means one who has attained or realized or got enlightened but is still in his body………….BeAware

WANT TO KNOW YOUR ATTACHMENTS? KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS! BECAUSE IN YOUR THOUGHTS LIE YOUR ATTACHMENTS………………….

In your thoughts lie your attachments. If you want to know your attachments then know your thoughts. Knowing one’s thoughts makes one aware of his identifications because thoughts are related to, arise from and revolve around our identifications, the so called attachments i.e. raga (positive attachments to which one is attracted) and dvesha (negative attachments which one is repelled from). Mostly our thoughts are about our possessions which could be anything - ranging from our own body/mind (thoughts and emotions) to relations; physical possessions; opinions; ideas; judgements etc.- which one is usually identified with and mistakenly one considers these to be as ‘myself’. Or these thoughts could be about our deep rooted tendencies i.e. habits and desires, vasanas, as we traditionally know them. These vasanas too are nothing but our identifications and thus are our attachments.

Mostly we are not aware of our thoughts. In order to be aware of our thoughts so as to know our identifications or attachments what we need to do is to start sitting alone for a while with eyes closed. What then happens is that we get confronted with an avalanche of variety of thoughts. While one goes through this process what is important is that one should always maintain his awareness. Being aware or maintaining awareness is the key. It’s only because our awareness is there that we get to notice these thoughts while we sit with our eyes closed but we fail to notice them during rest of the time even though we are fully awake and thoughts are very much there, primarily for the reason that during those times our awareness is mostly absent as we are too busy doing many other things whereas they become the focus of our attention when we sit with our eyes closed. Even while sitting with our eyes closed we will fail to notice these thoughts if we lose our awareness and instead we will get entangled or involved with them.

Another important thing to remember is that while one goes through this process, one should never label these thoughts as positive or negative or good or bad thoughts. Thoughts are just thoughts and not good or bad as we label them. This labelling is our own doing and this could be relevant only socially or morally but not beyond that. Maintaining this awareness will help us to know our thoughts and related attachments without getting involved or entangled with them. In fact for one who walks the path of spirituality knowing the thoughts is spiritually very significant and, the only goal of a spiritual seeker is to go beyond all the thoughts - good or bad……BeAware

MEDITATION IS NOT CONCENTRATION…………

Concentration is not dhyana or meditation as is understood by many. Many consider concentration practices as meditation practices for the simple reason that concentration leads to a state of thoughtlessness - a state which normally is identified with a state of meditation. Though it’s true that a concentration practice will make our thoughts to disappear but what also happens at the same time is loss of one’s awareness. For example let us concentrate on ‘third eye’ (the spot between the eyebrows, traditionally known as ‘Shiv Netra’) or for that matter on anything and you will find that though the thoughts disappear but at the same time you also lose your awareness - please try and see. Meditation on the other hand is an exercise, the sole objective of which is to gain awareness and not lose awareness. Instead of concentrating if one is meditating then may be the thoughts may still come in but he will not lose his awareness – please try and see. Precisely for the reason that concentration leads to loss of awareness this cannot be termed a meditation practice. Similarly practices involving concentration or focus cannot be termed as meditation practices – for example focusing on one’s breath. Instead if we want this to be a meditative practice then we should be saying that we should rather become aware of our breath and not focus on breathing. Focusing on breathing or for that matter anything is concentration but becoming aware of breathing is meditation. While you concentrate you may be free of thoughts but still this cannot be called as meditation  

Thus dhyana or meditation is not concentration but pure awareness. Meditation is awareness and awareness is meditation. In fact any practice which empowers one’s awareness can be termed a meditation practice. An enlightened being is one who has become all awareness and is meditative all the time i.e. – he has become naturally aware or said to have reached the heightened state of awareness.

Another aspect is that when we practice concentration our consciousness or chetna is fixed or stuck with the object of our concentration but when we are aware or meditative then our consciousness is clearly separated. In that separated state one becomes an observer (witness or sakshi) which is our real identity. Though concentration is needed for our functioning effectively in the world or for achieving certain things in our life but if the goal is Liberation then concentration cannot help take us beyond, so called MUKTI or MOKSHA i.e. becoming free from the cycle of birth and death. Concentration is thus limited but awareness or meditation is unlimited / boundless /all-inclusive and all pervasive one which makes the person meditating to be one with everything……………….BeAware

Next Post: In your thoughts lie your attachments.

MEDITATION MEANS YOGA OR UNION WITH THE EXISTENCE…….

Meditation means YOGA. Yoga here means union or being one with everything and not in the sense as we usually understand i.e. yogasanas. One can therefore say that meditation is Yoga and Yoga is meditation. An enlightened being is one who has become one with the existence. There are four ways to achieve this state of union or yoga – karma yoga (yoga of action), bhakti yoga (yoga of devotion); gyaan yoga (yoga of intelligence) and kriya yoga (yoga of internal action). Whatever the yoga or combination of these one may follow but the purpose of all this is to achieve the state of union with the existence. In that state the person is in tune with the existence i.e. to have become pure awareness or an observer or a witness or a simply knower as we know them by different names. The five bodies which we are made of are – annamaya kosha (physical body), manomaya kosha (mental or mind body), pranmaya kosha (energy body); vigyanmaya kosha (transitory body) and anandmaya kosha (bliss body). In the state of yoga we experience bliss for which we have to work upon our first three bodies which are physical in nature. Once these physical bodies are in perfect tune then only we can experience blissfulness or Ananda or state of union with rest of the existence, the so called turiya state. When one is meditative then his suffering ends because in that state he becomes a part of the whole and hence is in touch with the reality or truth. That’s why one can say that meditation is awareness and awareness is meditation…………………….BeAware

Next post - Meditation is not Concentration

ONE CANNOT DO MEDITATION…………..

Meditation is a conscious sleep – fully aware but at the same time both body and mind are fully rested. Sleep is also in a way meditation but unawares and unconscious. What we call sleep is unawareness because in sleep we lose our consciousness and we are not aware of our existence. However when the same thing happens in awareness, we call it a meditation. Meditation bhitar se jagne ki kala hai - meditation is to become aware from within. Being meditative or meditation becoming a quality means being fully aware 24/7 – also known as enlightened state i.e. the state in which one has just become a gyaata (knower) or saakshi (witness) or drashta (observer) to everything. The important thing about meditation is that one cannot do meditation like one cannot have a sleep by trying to sleep because meditation is not a doing. Watching one’s thoughts or one’s breath too is not a meditation because watching also becomes a doing. Meditation is a non-doing i.e. you are not doing anything both at the body and mind level but you are simply there. In fact all the saadhna or practices are to prepare and move the saadhak in that direction only so that meditation can happen naturally like a sleep. We can only practice doing meditation which means to practice sitting still - still in body, still in mind (includes both thoughts and emotions) but fully conscious and alive. When we have done enough practice of this then only can the meditation happen which means to have become pure awareness…………BeAware  

ALERTNESS IS NOT AWARENESS…..…….

We generally confuse alertness with awareness which is not true. Alertness is not awareness or being alert is not being aware. Alertness is of the mind which is rather needed for survival in the world. In fact, in terms of alertness we are nowhere close to the alertness of many other creatures, for example a dog; cat or a snake who happen to be far more alert than us. I want to differentiate the two with an example – while we sit in meditation, the whole objective is to be in the knowing i.e. to be aware of whatever that happens within or around us at the level of the body, mind (thoughts n emotions) and energy level. Hence to be on toes or being watchful for all these happenings is alertness and not awareness but to simply be in the knowing of such happenings if any, without reacting to or entangling with them, is what we refer to as awareness or meditation. Awareness is far more fundamental to our existence and to attain and sustain the state of pure awareness is the only objective of all the spiritual processes and practices. Alertness is like a watchman being alert to the movement of suspicious characters or one being alert to any specific danger etc. Alertness is thus a survival technique. Alertness and awareness are therefore two different dimensions altogether. If one is alert he may not be aware but when one is established in awareness then one is in the knowing of everything. Awareness means to be here in the PRESENT or NOW. One who is here in the PRESENT or NOW becomes a kshana or sunya as Buddha called it which means no mind or gap between two thoughts. While one is in kshana, he is free from suffering as opposed to a time, also a name for mind, which we are usually in and hence the suffering………….BeAware.

FREEDOM IS OUR TRUE NATURE, THE REAL ‘ME’………

The ‘freedom’ which we normally understand is really not a freedom. Why it’s so is for the reason that most of the time our responses are not by conscious choice but are rather driven by our past memory, karmas, as we traditionally know them. Such auto responses are mechanical in nature and hence are not actions but reactions. A reaction is always compulsive and hence unconscious whereas an action or a response is always a conscious one.

Compulsion means unconsciousness and therefore binding in nature. Freedom on the other hand means liberation – liberation from our karmas which limit us in so many ways. A reaction is a bondage which not only binds us but also limits us from discovering our true self. A bondage makes us repetitive i.e. doing the same things again and again in our current life and also becomes a reason for another life.

The real freedom comes from awareness that is when we consciously choose our responses and when our actions are guided by our present moment awareness, the so called free will. Awareness is real freedom because it does not bind us but releases us from our past karmas which is also the basis of our suffering. Awareness means becoming a witness or an observer - creating distance from the body and mind - which is also our true self or real ‘me’. Once we are established in awareness then every action is by choice and is therefore a real freedom. A new sense of freedom is born. Whatever we do in awareness does not bind us. Awareness also makes us free from everything – pain, pleasure and the cycle of birth and rebirth. Awareness is not in the realm of physical and is beyond our body and mind.……….BeAware