But before exploring the details of Kundalini in the Judeo/Christian scriptures, I would like to introduce the subject by examining the authentic and original message of Jesus.  Unless one understands Jesus’ core message it will not be possible to see how Kundalini is the key to his teaching.  The original message of Jesus was lost in translation, couched in symbol and metaphor and obscured by time, and has never been commonly understood.  Today there are many different Christian sects with vastly different interpretations of Jesus’ sayings.  How then is it possible to decipher the mystery so long after the fact?  To determine the original and authentic message of Jesus, as well was the involvement of Kundalini; we will examine his words in the original languages that the Bible was written in – Hebrew and Greek.  And then we can compare his message to the teachings of other spiritual luminaries such as Shankara, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Ramakrishna, and others.  We will discover that the great spiritual teachers all agree on the most sacred essence of spirituality.

And what is his fundamental message?  In the Bible when Jesus uses the word “gospel”, which usually means message, the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven” or “Kingdom of God” is always present in the same sentence or passage.  So Jesus’ message is that the “The Kingdom of Heaven/God is within you.”

Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

– Luke 17:20, 21

Jesus did not teach that he had come to earth to be a sacrifice for men’s sins.  He proclaimed the amazing message of the Kingdom of Heaven.  He also commanded his disciples to proclaim the message of the Kingdom of Heaven/God, and as far as I know he did not instruct them to preach anything else.  But what is the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God?

In the Bible the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven” is translated from the Greek words BASILEIA OURANOS.  BASILEIA is translated as “kingdom”.  According to Thayer’s Lexicon the primary meaning of BASILEIA is “royal power”.  Power creates and sustains a “kingdom”.  Without power a kingdom cannot exist.  Without power a king is nothing.  That is why the word “kingdom” is actually a secondary definition of BASILEIA.  BASILEIA is feminine gender and its primary meaning is “royal power” or “governing power”. 

When Jesus replied to the disciples about the coming of the Kingdom (Acts 1:8), he stated that they would “…receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”  By this statement Jesus related the “kingdom” to a “spiritual power”.

Jesus expressed the same fact in Mark 9:1.

And He was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

The apostle Paul asserted the same truth:

For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.

– First Corinthians 4:20

It is obvious from the primary definition of the word BASILEIA and its use in the scriptures, that it can be translated as “royal power or governing power”.  In this sense BASILEIA is very similar to the definition of SHAKTI.  According to the Monier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary the word SHAKTI, usually translated as “divine power” (feminine), also means “regal power” and “feminine or procreative energy”.

The word “heaven” in the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven” is translated from the Greek word OURANOS.  The definition of OURANOS is—UNIVERSE.  In old English the concept of the universe was expressed as “the heavens”.  Somewhere along the way the plural expression “heavens” was replaced by the singular expression—“heaven”.  The attempt to translate or interpret OURANOS–“universe” as “heaven” (singular), is totally erroneous and misleading.

The biblical Greek phrase BASILEIA OURANOS should translate as—“the DIVINE POWER OF THE UNIVERSE”.  Jesus’ message was about the “power of the universe”, The Cosmic Lord; not about an “earthly kingdom” or a “paradise” to be enjoyed after death.  Jesus taught that the “divine power of the universe” or the “power of God” is within you.  Jesus taught a version of pantheism (worship or reverence of the universe and nature).  But Jesus also taught that the very power that manifests itself as the Universe is within you, and can be experienced within one’s self and that it IS one’s true SELF – the Self of All.  He referred to this experience as the New Birth.  The concept of the New Birth is also found in Hinduism, and is expressed as DWIJA (the twice-born).

A microcosm of the universe, the universal ocean of power and bliss, dwells within one’s own heart.  The sum total of all of the light, power and bliss that is manifested throughout the entire macrocosm can be experienced within the Spiritual Heart, which is the same as one’s own Self.

Please consider the following quotations from various sources:

7:5.  This is My lower nature.  But, different from it, know, O mighty Arjuna, My higher nature—the Indwelling Spirit by which the universe is sustained.

7:6.  Know that these two form the womb of all beings.  I am the origin of the entire universe and also its dissolution.

7:7.  There exists nothing whatever higher than I AM, O Dhananjaya.  All is strung on Me as a row of gems on a thread.

Bhagavad Gita, Translated by Swami Nikhilananda

To realize the whole universe as the Self is the means of getting rid of bondage.  There is nothing higher than in identifying the universe with the Self.  One realizes this state by excluding the objective world through steadfastness in the eternal Atman.

Verse 339, from The Vivekacudamani of Sri Shankaracharya, translated by Swami Madhavananda

When there is not the I-thought, then there will be no other thought. Until that time, when other thoughts arise, (asking) “to whom?” (will call forth the reply) “To me.” He who pursues this closely, questioning “What is the origin of the I?” and diving inwards reaches the seat of the mind (within) the Heart, becomes (there) the Sovereign Lord of the Universe.

Eight Stanzas to Arunachala, by Sri Ramana Maharshi (A Portion of Stanza Seven)

11:  The whole universe is in the body and the whole body is in the Heart.  Hence all the universe is contained in the Heart.

12:  The universe is nothing but the mind, and the mind is nothing but the Heart.  Thus the entire story of the universe culminates in the Heart.

SRI RAMANA GITA Chapter Five, THE SCIENCE OF THE HEART

“Master:  ‘The jnani reasons about the world through the process of Neti, Neti, and at last reaches the Eternal and Indivisible Satchidananda.  He reasons in this manner:  Brahman is not the living beings; It is neither the universe nor the twenty-four cosmic principles.  As a result of such reasoning he attains the Absolute.  Then he realizes that it is the Absolute that has become all this—the universe, its living beings, and the twenty-four cosmic principles.”

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Translated by Swami Nikhilananda

Similar quotations from various sources about the nature of the Universal Self are included in an addendum at the end of this article.  Hopefully the reader already understands that the message of Jesus, The Bhagavad Gita, Shankara, Sri Ramana Maharshi and Sri Ramakrishna all resonate as One.  According to these masters the summit of spirituality is the realization of our Oneness with the indwelling Power of the Universe – The Cosmic Lord, The Self of All.  Jesus called it the Divine Power of the Universe; but it has been misunderstood by the Christian Church and the Bible translates it as the Kingdom of Heaven.

So what role does Kundalini play in the realization of the Cosmic Lord, the Self of All?  We will begin to explore that question in Part Two of The Gospel of Jesus Decoded.

POTENT QUOTES

7:5.  This is My lower nature.  But, different from it, know, O mighty Arjuna, My higher nature—the Indwelling Spirit by which the universe is sustained.

7:6.  Know that these two form the womb of all beings.  I am the origin of the entire universe and also its dissolution.

7:7.  There exists nothing whatever higher than I AM, O Dhananjaya.  All is strung on Me as a row of gems on a thread.

Bhagavad Gita, Translated by Swami Nikhilananda

When you return to your Self , this is called awakening , liberation, freedom.  Having known your Self , you know everything.  In this awakening the whole universe is discovered to be within yourself.  All universes are within you , and you are the universe.

This is ultimate understanding . Knowing this , you know everything.  If you don’t know this , you know nothing , regardless of how much information you collect.  Without this knowledge , you are ignorant. Having known the absolute, you are everything … without beginning , middle , end , without birth or death.

Here , all fears end.

WAKE UP AND ROAR, Satsangh with H.W.L. Poonja Volume 2

The following is from:  SRI RAMANA GITA–Chapter One, ON THE IMPORTANCE OF UPASANA (literally “being seated near”, meditation.)

“First Question:

Is Mukti (Release from phenomenal existence) to be had by mere discrimination between the real and the unreal or are there other means for the ending of bondage?

Answer to the First Question:

Abidance in the Self alone releases one from all bonds.  Discrimination between the real and the unreal leads to non-attachment.

The jnani is unfathomable; he abides always in the Self alone.  He does not consider the universe as unreal or as different from himself.

The following quote is from the Ninth Edition of “Talks”, #263, 20th October, 1936

Dr. Syed: Sri Bhagavan says that the Heart is the Self. Psychology has it that malice, envy, jealousy and all passions have their seat in the heart. How are these two statements to be reconciled?

M.: The whole cosmos is contained in one pinhole in the Heart. These passions are part of the cosmos. They are avidya (ignorance).

The following is an excerpt from a letter written as a reply to an inquiry by an Englishman named Harry Dickman.  The reply was written with Bhagavan’s approval by Sri T.K. Sundaresa Iyer.  This excerpt was taken from an article published in the September/October 2000 “The Maharshi Newsletter” published by Arunachala Ashrama, New York.

“A staunch devotee living in England, Harry Dickman, was soaked in Sri Bhagavan’s teachings, though he could not have His darshan. He wrote asking for an explanation as to the term ‘Hridayam’ and its significance. I got from Bhagavan hints on how the reply should be formed. The following is the gist of the reply, which was approved by Bhagavan and sent to Harry Dickman:” -TKS

JUST AS THERE IS a cosmic centre from which the whole universe arises and has its being and functions with the power or the directing energy emanating therefrom, so also is there a centre within the frame of the physical body wherein we have our being. This centre in the human body is in no way different from the cosmic centre. It is this centre in us that is called the Hridaya, the seat of Pure Consciousness, realized as Existence, Knowledge and Bliss. This is really what we call the seat of God in us.

THE FOLLOWING QUOTATIONS ARE FROM THE VIVEKACUDAMANI OF SHANKARA:

Verse 227:  “All this universe which through ignorance appears as of diverse forms, is nothing else but Brahman which is absolutely free from all the limitations of human thought.”

Verse 230:  “Similarly, the whole universe, being the effect of the real Brahman, is in reality nothing but Brahman.  Its essence is That, and it does not exist apart from It.  He who says it does is still under delusion–he babbles like one asleep.”

Verse 231:  “This universe is verily Brahman–such is the august pronouncement of the Atharva Veda.  Therefore this universe is nothing but Brahman, for that which is superimposed (on something) has no separate existence from its substratum.”

Verse 236:  “Whatever a deluded man perceives through mistake is Brahman and Brahman alone.  The silver is nothing but the mother-of-pearl.  It is Brahman which is always considered as this universe, whereas that which is superimposed on Brahman, viz. the universe, is merely a name.”

Verses 237-238:  “Hence whatever is manifested, viz. this universe, is the Supreme Brahman Itself, the Real, the One without a second, pure, the Essence of Knowledge, taintless, serene devoid of beginning and end, beyond activity, the Essence of Bliss Absolute–transcending all the diversities created by Maya or nescience, eternal, ever beyond the reach of pain, indivisible, immeasurable, formless, undifferentiated, nameless, immutable, self-luminous.”

339.  To realize the whole universe as the Self is the means of getting rid of bondage.  There is nothing higher than identifying the universe with the Self.  One realizes this state by excluding the objective world through steadfastness in the eternal Atman.

355.  The Sannyasin, calm, self-controlled, perfectly retiring from the sense-world, forbearing, and devoting himself to the practice of Samadhi, always reflects on his own self being the Self of the whole universe.  Destroying completely by this means the imaginations which are due to the gloom of ignorance, he lives blissfully as Brahman, free from action and the oscillations of the mind.

385.  The sky, divested of the hundreds of limiting adjuncts such as a jar, a pitcher, a receptacle for grains or a needle, is one, and not divers; exactly in a similar way the pure Brahman, when divested of egoism etc., is verily One.

386.  The limiting adjuncts from Brahma down to a clump of grass are all wholly unreal.  Therefore one should realize one’s own Infinite Self as the only Principle.

387.  That in which something is imagined to exist through error, is, when rightly discriminated, that thing itself, and not distinct from it.  When the error is gone, the reality about the snake falsely perceived becomes the rope.  Similarly the universe is in reality the Atman.

388.  The Self is Brahma, the Self is Vishnu, the Self is Indra, the Self is Shiva; the Self is all this universe.  Nothing exists except the Self.

389.  The Self is within, and the Self is without; the Self is before and the Self is behind; the Self is in the south, and the Self is in the north; the Self likewise is above and also below.

391.  All this universe known through speech and mind is nothing but Brahman; there is nothing besides Brahman, which exists beyond the utmost range of the Prakriti.  Are the pitcher, jug, jar, etc. known to be distinct from the clay of which they are composed?  It is the deluded man who talks of “thou” and “I”, as an effect of the wine of Maya.

394.  What is the use of dilating on this subject?  The Jiva is no other than Brahman; this whole extended universe is Brahman Itself; the Sruti inculcates the Brahman without a second; and it is an indubitable fact that people of enlightened minds who know their identity with Brahman and have given up their connection with the objective world, live palpably unified with Brahman as eternal Knowledge and Bliss.

478.  The verdict of all discussions on the Vedanta is that the Jiva and the whole universe are nothing but Brahman, and that liberation means abiding in Brahman, the indivisible Entity.  The Srutis themselves are authority (for the statement) that Brahman is One without a second.

“But all you really want is to keep your body-mind sense intact; that just will not do.  Thus, to realize that ‘I-am-ness’ means the manifest world and the universe is the very fulfillment of jnana-yoga.”

THE NECTAR OF THE LORD’S FEET-Final Teachings of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.  Edited by Robert Powell.

“This raises philosophical issues of great importance.  Have we the least accurate knowledge of ourselves?  Who am I?  And what is this flame of consciousness that gives me awareness of myself and of the world around?”

“The explanations furnished by great philosophers about this marvelous stuff we call life are the guesses of little children about the moon, mere fairy tales that appear absurd in the extreme at the very first glimpse of the Self”

“…The true roots of our life do not lie in our body, in our brain, or our individual prana, but in the intelligent cosmic force or Universal prana that sweeps through the cosmos and is responsible for every organic structure of life….”

“If this store of cosmic prana were inanimate, without a will and a direction of its own, we could very well flatter ourselves that every thought and fancy that we have is the product of our own volition.  But since we are ourselves the products of this Superintelligent Cosmic Power, it would be illogical to the last degree to presume that our individual ideas and fancies are exclusively our own creations and have no relationship to the ocean of which we are but a tiny drop.  When it is once admitted that mind and consciousness are cosmic entities, it would then be ridiculous to suppose that the thoughts and ideas in an individual atom of this Cosmic Consciousness can have an entirely independent existence and not reflect the will and design of the Cosmic Whole.”

“…This perception of the hitherto completely unimaginable and unsuspected inner universe through the supersensory channel, developed by kundalini, is metaphorically known as the opening of the ‘Third Eye.’

Pages 176-178, HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS AND KUNDALINI, Gopi Krishna

“…For the ultimate target of every occult or religious practice is to bring the mind in tune with Cosmic Consciousness or the Infinite Universe of Life, hidden from the normal mind.  Supernormal psychic gifts, enhanced intellectual caliber, and literary talents invariably attend the crowning stages of the metamorphoses brought about.”

KUNDALINI–THE SECRET OF YOGA, Gopi Krishna

The true aim of Yoga is transformation of Consciousness, the creation of a heaven on earth.  What lasting joy can supernormal talents or command over supernatural forces bring to a man whose inner being has not risen above the narrow, vacillating periphery of the human mind?  What greater happiness can occult gifts, temporal power or earthly riches confer on a man who, in perennial communion with the Universal Ocean of Life, has realized his own immortal nature, knows himself as one with the Eternal Fount of Cosmic Consciousness, in want of nothing and beyond the farthest reach of the contaminations of the earth:  sorrow, decay and death?

KUNDALINI–THE SECRET OF YOGA, Gopi Krishna

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Over the last three decades, I have seen the words Kundalini and Chakras (Energy Centers) become popular and enter the mainstream of conversations about spirituality. There is much hype surrounding these concepts and often people without much experience pose as experts and masters. If one can find a genuine teacher and the pure teaching, it helps a lot.

A true seeker should be skeptical of the glamor and show associated with Kundalini teachers. A genuine arousal of the Kundalini Shakti takes one into the super conscious realms. There are many symptoms and signs of Kundalini awakening but they differ depending on the psychology and physiology of the student.

Eating a pure sattvic diet, leading a balanced emotional life, and the practice of meditation lead to deep relaxation. This allows the arousal and manifestation of the divine energy in its various forms.

Kundalini manifestations are a function of several factors. One is the youth of the person. The younger the person is, and particularly if the person is practicing a balanced control over food, sleep, and sensual urges, Kundalini Shakti will come with a huge force.

If you read the biographies of genuinely spiritual people and saints, you will note that seeing of angels, hearing divine music, visions of saints or the Goddess, and having various forms of religious experiences typically start at a very young age. This is not an absolute rule but there is something to it. In many people, Kundalini Shakti awakens later in life, sometimes in their thirties and forties also, after they have practiced meditation, yoga, and contemplative prayers for some years.

When people get more involved in the worldly life, these spiritual experiences may become less regular and will come with a moderate force. However, if the fundamental change in consciousness has already taken place, these experiences are seen for what they are. A passing and a transient phase whose true purpose is to lead the aspirant and ultimately help realize the nature and mystery of one’s Being.

People describe the initial experience of the spirit taking over in various ways including the feeling of electric voltage going through the spinal column and the whole body, experiences and the feeling of intense drilling going on during meditation states in various energy centers as the Shakti tries to make its way.

According to Yoga texts and experiences of Yogi practitioners, after the three knots (granthis which are major blockages of energy in the middle of the spinal column) have been broken through, the flow of Shakti will be nice and smooth like the flow of oil.

However, people do experience different aspects of the Kundalini in different sequences, so no general rules for interpreting the spirit manifestations can be made. One basic thing, however, that I have found to be true, is that disciplines relating to food, sensual conduct, and sleep have a great impact on the Kundalini rising, developing, and also on the substance of different manifestations.

Initially, the nerve currents passing through the spine indicate that the Shakti is being stimulated (due to prayer, meditation, pranayama or other spiritual practices like Japa). Kundalini is the mother of Prana (life energy in the body). Where Shakti goes, the Prana will follow. When through meditation, the Kundalini enters Sushmana (middle of the spinal column), prana is withdrawn from all over the body and the body becomes motionless. It is in that state, as Shakti moves higher, that various visions of angels, saints, the Mother Goddess, and other super conscious states manifest. Kundalini Shakti leads to various types of samadhis as described in the yogic texts. See Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.

Kundalini Yoga is one path  to enlightenment and prepares one for Self-Realization. However, this path also creates much confusion among people as it is the scenic path with the promise of many experiences and psychic abilities.

The wise student truly interested in delving into the mystery of life should take great care and be indifferent to the glamor of this path. The pure teachings of Ahimsa (nonviolence) and the nature of the Self should be understood and meditated upon regardless of any supernatural experiences or manifestation.

The ultimate goal of all Yogas and Tantras is to recognize that “Peace that Passes all Understanding” is within us and it is our Real Nature or Original Nature. One goes through the long journey with so many dramas, and jumps through so many hoops only to come face to face with and Recognize One’s Own Self.

T.S. Eliot said in one of his poems, “We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

Recognizing our Self is like that. It is to see what has always been there, what we are and have been eternally.

I love that T.S. Eliot line. However,  in describing Self-Realization, I would modify it to the following:

“We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive at a place which we never left and see for the first time that this place is our very own Heart.”

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1. Take 2 folded blankets, and stagger them, so one is on top of the other, and the top blanket is pulled about 2 inches back. Fold the top blanket under at the other end, to make a pillow.

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2. Lay on your back with the base of the spine touching the bottom blanket. Let your shoulders roll under and open the front of the chest.

3. Let your body sink into the pose, let your chest open a little more, and soften your breathing. Focus for a few moments on feeling the nourishment in your breath.

4. Imagine that you are floating in a cloud of pure love and nourishment. Use your intuition to guide you as you imagine this cloud fully embracing you. Intend that the nourishment from this cloud is being drawn into the body on each inhale.

5. Take a few moments now to relax further and connect to your sacred heart space, or on a feeling of unconditional love. Continue to connect to the nourishment being drawn into the body as well as the feeling of unconditional love in the heart space, and allow yourself to relax even more.  Feel or intend that the love and nourishment is wrapping your body like an embrace. Allow yourself to continue to relax more and more into the heart space. Let your intuition guide you with this meditation as you continue to rest in the heart space for a few more minutes, or click here to be guided in a few more minutes of meditation with Christine.

Benefits: emotionally uplifting, opens the heart center, increases circulation to the heart & lungs, tones and lengthens the spine, releases tension in the shoulders & upper back.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to find out more about the writings of Christine click here .

Christine Wushke is a certified yoga and meditation teacher with over 15 years of experience. Her aim is to create a sacred space for students to effortlessly find the presence of stillness and an inner silence. Christine’s mission is to raise consciousness on the planet by empowering people to realize their own Divinity and to uncover a deep peace within. Christine is committed to assisting you in your journey, and helping you to realize directly for yourself the truth of what you are, and the stillness of truth within. In addition to her yoga and meditation training, Christine is also a registered massage therapist. In the past two years she has studied extensively in the spiritual tradition of Advaita Vedanta. Her teaching style is largely influenced by Iyengar yoga, and the nondual tradition of Advaita.

www.journeytolight.net
www.innerlightyoga.blogspot.com

© written and modeled by Christine Wushke

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Place your burden
at the feet of the Lord of the universe
who accomplishes everything.

Remain all the time steadfast
in the heart,
in the Transcendental Absolute.

God knows the past, present and future.

He will determine the future for you and accomplish the work.

What is to be done will be done at the proper time. Don’t worry.

Abide in the heart and surrender your acts to the Divine.

Bhagavan Ramana

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Shams-i Tabrizi was a  wandering mystic who became Rumi’s beloved companion.  Rumi had been a sober scholar, teaching law and theology to a small circle of students, but the coming of Shams turned him into a devotee of music, dance, and poetry.

Mevlana Jallal-ud-din Rumi says about his first encounter with Shams: “The God which I have worshiped all my life appeared to me today in human form.”

About their first meeting, they say that once while Rumi was sitting with his students, this wandering darvesh, Shams (untidy, disheveled hair) passing by, asked him, “What are you doing?” Rumi scoffingly replied, “Something you cannot understand.”

On hearing this, Shams threw the stack of books into a nearby pool of water. The books, (including precious handwritten manuscripts etc) were hastily rescued, and to  their  surprise, they found that the books were all dry. Rumi asked Shams,-“How did you do this ?” to which Shams replied, “Mowlana, this is something you cannot understand.”

Another story runs somewhat like that of Mansur Al-Hallaj. Once a king’s son died. The king was distraught and wanted his son back at any cost. He was told that this was only possible thru Aayats (divine verses) of The Holy Quran.

All the Islamic scholars were summoned (including Rumi) but they were at a loss what to do. Rumi said that-yes there indeed ARE such aayats in the Quran, but we are not the people who have actually internalized the Quran this way. The king threatened to kill all the scholars unless his son was brought to life.

So they started searching for the right man. While traveling through jungle all of a sudden they heard the sound of  ”Allah Hu” coming from somewhere. They followed the direction of the sound and reached a place where Shams-e-Tabrizi was sitting under a tree. And they saw that the sound was emanating from the very pores of his skin.

Once in the presence of the King, Shams recited the Aayat which said- come to life by Allah’s order. But of course, the child didn’t revive.

He again repeated the aayat- “Come to life by Allah’s order” but still, the child lay dead. In anger Shams said- “Kumbe-izni”  (come to life by MY order), and the boy revived.

In any case, Rumi had found his friend, philosopher, guide-virtually his alter-ego.

For years their mutual discourses/ discussions and companionship continued. Shams, for him, was the manifestation of all that was of everlasting beauty. He was inebriated with the divine beauty in him, and Shams delighted in the extremity of his passion.

Rumi’s son wrote-

“The shadow of Mevlana was dissolved in his light”

But, jealous of the growing intimacy, Shams was later killed by Rumi’s own disciples.  Hiding the truth from Mevlana, his followers tried to comfort him saying: ”Shams has gone again, but he will be back one day”.

Mevlana, however, was inconsolable. He gave himself up to mystic ritual-sema-and devotion. He never gave up the hope that one day Shams ad-Dîn Tabrîzî should pop-up again. But finally established him so firmly in his own heart that he discovered the spirit of Shams in his own body and wrote:

”Seekers, see what you will, him or me. See either him, or me, for I am him, and he is me”.

In his later poetry, it is Shams who is talking through Rumi. Rumi said this in a number of places.  The Mathnavi and Divan of Rumi are said to be written like this- i.e. Shams who talked through Rumi.

Why should I seek? I am the same as
He. His essence speaks through me.
I have been looking for myself!

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Paulo Coelho’s The Manual of the Warrior of Light begins with the following story:

‘Just off the beach to the west of the village lies an island, and on it is a vast temple with many bells,’ said the woman. The boy noticed that she was dressed strangely and had a veil covering her head. He had never seen her before.

‘Have you ever visited that temple?’ she asked. ‘Go there and tell me what you think of it?’

Seduced by the woman’s beauty, the boy went to the place she had indicated. He sat down on the beach and stared out at the horizon, but he saw only what he always saw: blue sky and ocean.  Disappointed, he walked to a nearby fishing village and asked if anyone there knew about an island and a temple.

‘Oh, that was many years ago, when my great-grandparents were alive,’ said an old fisherman. ‘There was an earthquake, and the island was swallowed up by the sea. But although we can no longer see the island, we can still hear the temple bells when the ocean sets them swinging down below.’

The boy went back to the beach and tried to hear the bells. He spent the whole afternoon there, but all he heard was the noise of the waves and the cries of the seagulls.

When night fell, his parents came looking for him. The following morning, he went back to the beach; he could not believe that such a beautiful woman would have lied to him. If she ever returned, he could tell her that, although he had not seen the island, he had heard the temple bells set ringing by the motion of the waves.

Many months passed; the woman did not return and the boy forgot all about her; now he was convinced that he needed to discover the riches and treasures in the submerged temple. If he could hear the bells, he would be able to locate it and salvage the treasure hidden below.

He lost interest in school and even in his friends. He became the butt of all the other children’s jokes. They used to say: ‘He’s not like us. He prefers to sit looking at the sea because he’s afraid of being beaten in our games.’

And they all laughed to see the boy sitting on the shore.

Although he still could not hear the old temple bells ringing, the boy nevertheless learned about other things. He began to realize that he had grown so used to the sound of the waves that he was no longer distracted by them.

Soon after that, he became used to the cries of the seagulls, the buzzing of the bees and the wind blowing amongst the palm trees.

Six months after his first conversation with the woman, the boy could sit there oblivious to all other noises, but he still could not hear the bells from the drowned temple.

Fishermen came and talked to him, insisting that they had heard the bells.

But the boy never did.

Some time later, however, the fishermen changed their tune: ‘You spend far too much time thinking about the bells beneath the sea. Forget about them and go back to playing with your friends. Perhaps it’s only fishermen who can hear them.’

After almost a year, the boy thought: ‘Perhaps they’re right. I would do better to grow up and become a fisherman and come down to this beach every morning, because I’ve come to love it here.’ And he thought too: ‘Perhaps it’s just another legend and the bells were all shattered during the earthquake and have never rung out since.’

That afternoon, he decided to go back home.

He walked down to the ocean to say goodbye. He looked once more at the natural world around him and because he was no longer concerned about the bells, he could again smile at the beauty of the seagulls’ cries, the roar of the sea and the wind blowing in the palm trees. Far off, he heard the sound of his friends playing and he felt glad to think that he would soon resume his childhood games. The boy was happy and – as only a child can – he felt grateful for being alive. He was sure that he had not wasted his time, for he had learned to contemplate Nature and to respect it.

Then, because he was listening to the sea, the seagulls, the wind in the palm trees and the voices of his friends playing, he also heard the first bell.

And then another.

And another, until, to his great joy, all the bells in the drowned temple were ringing.

0o0

It is a beautiful story that tells us many things about spiritual life and about learning to see and hear, and about learning to live.

It is said that the Buddha underwent every spiritual practice known on his day and still he did not reach Buddhahood.

It is not that the Buddha was not sincere in his efforts. He was totally sincere.

He failed to reach the goal because it is not through struggles that you awaken to the Truth. It is when you give up all struggles and relax in the giving up, in the letting go, relax deeply, that you awaken to the Truth.

Struggles never take you to the truth. Relaxation does.

In fact, our struggles are the greatest obstacle to our awakening to the Truth.

The more you struggle, the more your mind becomes strong. And the mind can never awaken to the Truth, however strong it is. As the Upanishads say, the Truth is “yan manasa na manute” – that which the mind cannot contemplate, comprehend. A very beautiful statement in the Upanishads says: yato vacho nivartante, aprapya manasa saha. The Truth is that “from which words return, along with the mind, unattained.”

The only way to comprehend the Truth is through the cessation of the mind. When the mind ceases to be, you awaken to the Truth.

The mind is the obstacle. That is why Patanjali defines yoga as chittavritti nirodha – the cessation of the vrittis in the mind. The vrittis – changing ‘thought waves’ – are the mind. When they cease to be, the mind ceases to be. And you comprehend the Truth, you awaken to the Truth.

And struggles make the mind stronger.

So the way to reach the Truth, hear the temple bells the boy was struggling to hear, is to give up all struggle.

And that is what the boy in Polo Coelho’s story does.

In Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, the boy Siddhartha leaves his home in search of the Truth and practices all kinds of sadhanas just as the other Siddhartha – the Buddha – does. Years pass but he does not reach his goal. He meets the Buddha and then moves on, realizing no Buddha can give him his Truth, he has to attain it by himself. And then one day he gives up all the sadhanas he has been practicing so far. And then it happens. He has his first powerful mystic experience. Here is how Hesse describes Siddhartha’s first experience:

“He looked around, as if he was seeing the world for the first time. Beautiful was the world, colourful was the world, strange and mysterious was the world!  Here was blue, here was yellow, here was green, the sky and the river flowed, the forest and the mountains were rigid, all of it was beautiful, all of it was mysterious and magical, and in its midst was he, Siddhartha, the awakening one, on the path to himself.  All of this, all this yellow and blue, river and forest, entered Siddhartha for the first time through the eyes, was no longer a spell of Mara, was no longer the veil of Maya, was no longer a pointless and coincidental diversity of mere appearances, despicable to the deeply thinking Brahmin, who scorns diversity, who seeks unity.  Blue was blue, river was river, and if also in the blue and the river, in Siddhartha, the singular and divine lived hidden, so it was still that very divinity’s way and purpose, to be here yellow, here blue, there sky, there forest, and here Siddhartha. The purpose and the essential properties were not somewhere behind the things, they were in them, in everything.”

Siddhartha gives up and it happens.

That is exactly what happens to the boy in Paulo Coelho’s story too. The beautiful young woman he meets, the strange woman with a veil over her head, tells him about the temple and the temple bells on the island. And he starts out on a journey to discover what the woman had told him about.

“Seduced by the woman’s beauty”  – says the story. That is beautiful too.

The Tibetans have a name for that woman. In the esoteric writings of Tibet she is called the Red Dakini. Dakini is a Tibetan yogini. The Red Dakini is the one who initiates man into the higher mysteries of life. And she is incredibly beautiful.

The desire for the Truth is the most beautiful thing in the world. It is what makes life beautiful. Minus that, life is plain and monotonous.

The Red Dakini gives you the key to the mysteries of life. And she is so beautiful that her beauty will haunt you day and night. Once touched by her, you never escape her. You surrender to her seductive charms completely, you are infatuated by her hopelessly.

And that is the most beautiful thing to happen in life.

This introduction is something that happens to the rare fortunate individual, say the Upanishads. Something that happens to one in a million individuals.

She chooses the individual and reveals herself to him.

And once you are chosen there is no escaping her.

0o0

The boy goes to the place she has indicated. He sits down on the beach and stares out at the horizon, but he sees only what he has always seen: blue sky and ocean.

But of course, he does not give up. He cannot give up. She has initiated him into the path. She has held his hands and led him to the path. Now there is no walking back.

When he does not find the island and the temple, he walks to the nearby fishing village and asks the fishermen about it. Of course, they know about it, they have heard about it. But the temple is no more. It used to be there in the days of their great-grandparents, but has been destroyed by an earthquake and swallowed up by the sea.

They tell him: ‘But although we can no longer see the island, we can still hear the temple bells when the ocean sets them swinging down below.’

The boy cannot hear the temple bells, but they can.

The ordinary fisher folk can hear the temple bells that the boy is not able to hear.

The boy goes back to the beach and tries to hear the bells. He spends the whole afternoon there, but all he hears is the noise of the waves and the cries of the seagulls.

This is something tremendously beautiful. What the boy cannot hear with all his efforts, the fishermen are able to hear without any effort.

But of course, they are not obsessed with it. The temple bells mean nothing to them. Their chimes are mere sounds to them, like the crashing of the waves, the chirping of the birds and the shrieks of the winds.

They hear the bells, but are not initiated into their meaning. They have not met the Red Dakini.

They hear them not consciously, but unconsciously, absent mindedly. And attach no significance to them.

They have not been initiated. The Red Dakini has not visited them.

The boy cannot hear them now. But when he hears them, they would mean something very different to him. They would have great significance to him. Because he would be hearing them consciously, wide awake, with an awakened mind. The fishermen hear them as though in their sleep. He would hear them awake.

But that would be later. At the moment he cannot hear them at all.

He goes back to the beach and sits listening again.

At night his mother and father come looking for him and take him back home. But the next day he is again at the beach.

He cannot hear the sounds but he trusts the beautiful woman. She could not have lied to him – she is so beautiful.

A long time passes and yet he has not been able to hear the bells. Not once.

“Many months passed; the woman did not return and the boy forgot all about her; now he was convinced that he needed to discover the riches and treasures in the submerged temple,” says Paulo Coelho.

Of course it is Paulo Coelho’s story, and he can tell it the way he wants, but I disagree with Paulo Coelho here. One never forgets the Red Dakini. The boy cannot forget the beautiful woman who initiated him into the path. She has to be there in his mind. One does not forget one’s initiatrix. He might forget her after he has heard the bells. But not so long as he has not heard them.

At this stage it is for her that he wants to hear the bells, more than for himself. What Coelho said earlier is more true – he wants to hear them and tell her that he has heard them. If hearing them is a need, telling her that he has heard them too is a need. An equally powerful need, if not more.

A time might come in his spiritual journey when he would possibly forget her and the search will become meaningful in itself, the search will gain other purposes than hearing the temple bells. But for that he will have to become an old man, past boyhood, past youth. In our story, our boy does not reach that stage. He is still a boy of school-going age. So he has to be still enchanted with the Red Dakini.

His school friends taunt him. He becomes the butt of their jokes. ‘He’s not like us,’ they say. ‘He prefers to sit looking at the sea because he’s afraid of being beaten in our games.’

The world never understands people who are not like themselves. The world never understands people who have other calls, people who are on other journeys, people who are not interested in what they are interested in.

In this story, they just taunt him. But worse things could have happened to him. They could have attacked him. They could have pelted stones at him, calling him mad.

Even his parents could have misunderstood him.

I used to know a young boy some years back. He became interested in what other people were not interested in. His parents consulted doctors and, unknown to him, they fed him sedatives mixed with his food. For years. With every meal. Until he became so dull, his eyes lost all brightness, and when he spoke you could hardly make out what he was saying.

The boy in Coelho’s story was more fortunate.

He continues to sit there, oblivious to the ridicule of his schoolmates, oblivious to their laughter.

Now even the fishermen are scared by his commitment. They tell him that perhaps only fishermen can hear the bells, no one else.

At last he decides to give up. Who knows if it is all not a myth?

One afternoon he decides to give up and go back home.

He walks down to the ocean to say goodbye. He looks once more at the natural world around him and because he is no longer concerned about the bells, he can again smile at the beauty of the seagulls’ cries, the roar of the sea and the wind blowing in the palm trees. Far off, he hears the sound of his friends playing and he feels glad to think that he will soon resume his childhood games.

And then, at that moment, he hears the bells. He hears them for the first time.

He was not trying to listen to bells any more. And at that moment, he hears them.

It happens by itself. When you are least expecting it.

This is how Coelho puts it: “Then, because he was listening to the sea, the seagulls, the wind in the palm trees and the voices of his friends playing, he also heard the first bell. And then another. And another, until, to his great joy, all the bells in the drowned temple were ringing.”

He gives up the struggle to listen to the bells, and the moment he gives up the struggle, he hears them. Along with the sounds of the sea, of the seagulls, of the wind in the palm trees and the voice of his friends playing.

Because he is no longer concerned.

It is not that he is still interested in it and gives it up. No, he gives it up altogether. His mind is free from his need to hear it. And at that moment it happens.

The Buddha gives up all sadhanas and sits under the Bodhi tree and he attains enlightenment.

It is not in struggle that enlightenment happens. For enlightenment to happen you need relaxation. Stillness born of relaxation.

Struggles make your mind noisy. When struggles cease, when all noises end, when your mind is free, still, then you hear. Then you see. For the first time.

And this seeing is different from the seeing of the common man. This hearing is different from the hearing of the fishermen.

This is conscious hearing. Awakened hearing. As though you are hearing for the first time.

Does it mean that all struggles are useless, all sadhanas are useless? Does it mean that dhyana is useless, yoga is useless?

Absolutely not.

Sadhanas are required for creating that relaxation. Dhyana is required to create that stillness. Yoga is needed to create that stillness. The struggles are needed so that you can go beyond them and be still.

Without them, you do not reach stillness.

What is required for enlightenment is relaxation and stillness. The sadhanas are for creating this relaxation and stillness. That is the purpose of all yogas – jnana yoga, dhyana yoga, bhakti yoga, karma yoga. They create relaxation and stillness and the moment you reach this relaxed, still state, and give up all struggles, it happens.

The bells start ringing.

And you realize the bells have always been ringing. They have been ringing even when the sea was roaring, even when the seagulls were crying, the wind was whistling and your friends were playing noisily.

The bells are ringing even now. When you are busy in your office, in the market, or wherever you are.

Once you hear them, you realize you can hear them everywhere. You can hear them in the middle of your conferences, in the middle of your negotiations, in the middle of your presentations, in the middle of working to meet your deadlines, in the middle of whatever you are doing.

0o0

Polo Coelho tells us that years later the boy comes back to the beach as an adult and there he meets the beautiful woman again. He notices that, despite the passing of years, the woman looks exactly the same; the veil hiding her hair has not faded with time.

The Red Dakini does not change.

She is beyond time and beyond space.

Eternally waiting to tell all about the temple bells.

Here is a song of the Red Dakini from the Tibetan tradition:

“I am the Vajra Dakini, of light

The color of crimson roses and flowing blood
I transmute the life energies into their spiritual origin
By filtering out gross elements, and giving them form
By changing weak currents into strong ones,

Dribbling energy into pounding waves

Opening blocks and barriers.”

“I am the guide and introducer of men to the spiritual path
I strengthen and purify them

That they may encounter the great Buddhas of Light
I prepare them for the Great Awakening

I harmonize the spiritual striving of all beings
I call them forth, into the realms of the enlightened ones
That they may pass through the dangerous waters
To watch the rising of the sun upon the other shore.”

0o0

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• the diamond
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Suddenly everybody’s singing this song, and there is much talk about a change in world wide consciousness ushering in a new dimension. And perhaps you look around and wonder, or even scoff, but by understanding what is really meant, you can instead add to this happiness quotient rather than to the doubts and worry.

Your consciousness is not some mumbo-jumbo out of reach mystical aspect of self – it only implies your belief system! The sum total of what you think and feel about self, life, the world, universe and God. A new dimension is not some mumbo jumbo mystical plane that will descend from the skies- it only implies the critical mass of human consciousness – enough people thinking the same way! And as enough of us expand our belief systems, we expand human consciousness, and indeed usher in an enhanced dimension to live in – in layman terms each of us makes the world a better place! And enlightenment is happening!

And if you really want to know the state of your current consciousness: look around you! For there is no separate ‘you’ or ‘life’! You and your life and your world indeed are your consciousness and your current reality is a mirror, a physical reflection indeed of your personal consciousness. And those areas of life which appear to be like misshapen eyebrows, not exactly in the shape you choose, are literally showing you where you need to thread away your limited thinking! And as you expand your limited perspectives- as your consciousness merges with its vaster aspects- personal enlightenment is happening! And as enough of us make this change within, it indeed reflects all around and hey presto- our planet indeed progresses and we have a new dimension, an improved human experience to then further explore and add to. And enlightenment (world wide) is happening! For we don’t exist ‘in’ a dimension; our consciousness is the dimension!

Don’t worry, be happy- yes it is a catching refrain! And a word of warning: consciousness is more catching than the latest fashion trends! This is often called the ‘Hundred monkey syndrome’ after one of the early experiments (by Ken Keyes) which first observed this critical mass consciousness in effect! On a selected island, Ken and his team would feed monkeys their favorite food of sweet potatoes, but purposely drop these potatoes on the sand which monkeys dislike; thereby enforcing them to remove the sand before eating! Over a time period they observed not only new born monkeys instinctively wash their potatoes before consuming… but soon the majority of monkeys even on other islands doing the same! Ken and his team realized that when ‘enough’ monkeys began to think that way…it ‘spread’ to most monkeys!

And beloved readers, humanity has seemingly gone past the hundredth human humming “Don’t worry, Be happy”! So look for your own personal symptoms of an expanding consciousness! Do you suddenly feel a sense of ‘all is well with me and my world’? Do you find a lack of interest in conflict? Do you find yourself unable to blame, judge and condemn quite as much? Has brooding on some nebulous past given way to looking ahead at exciting possibilities instead? Are you having sudden feelings of connectedness – with love meaning more than your relationship with lover, child or dog? Are you smiling a whole lot more? Don’t think you have gone cuckoo! It’s the new consciousness and even as you tap into it, will it become more tangibly yours!

Now let’s jump in deeper, and understand that while the above explores what I am calling personal enlightenment, this term is truly an oxymoron. For in true enlightenment there is no personal self left. And thus paradoxically the very goal that seekers so ardently seek- personal enlightenment- is only the carrot, and the journey towards it is the real goal! For it is only through ‘knowing thyself’ and exploring, and indeed fulfilling all aspects of your personal consciousness, that you can move beyond it without fear or regret.

True surrender is when you have claimed the creator that you are, (at physical levels through your thoughts, feeling and energy signatures; at vaster levels as the architect of your blueprints; and at deeper levels as That which orchestrates the game called existence) and are in surrender to This Self. Surrender is not giving your power away to a higher or larger force, but resting, indeed abiding in all that you are and have chosen to explore as its individuation. Surrender is not a passive state but where you revel in exploring, being and fulfilling whatever you as creator have chosen through the current self or focus

And in this state of active rest, do ‘you’ the personal self then begin to move from your personal consciousness ,and even it’s desire to be enlightened – into your extended universal consciousness which knows that in true enlightenment there is no personal self left to ‘get’ enlightenment! And thus no personal self will be left to ‘know’ of its enlightenment! Paradoxically, when this eureka unfurls within ‘you’, the ardency to be enlightened leaves, the urgency leaves, and ‘you’ begin to rest in the knowing that it will happen in its own time and own ways as and when the larger You- Consciousness- chooses!

This is true surrender! You switch your alliance from personal self and its interests and desires, to the larger universal Self that you truly are, and know that when You the larger Self has finished doing what It has chosen to through the chalice being ‘you’ the personal self… it will not need to exist in separation anymore, and its so called enlightenment will have ‘happened’ to it! But ah… there will be no ‘you’ to pat yourself on the back for it would be an occurrence in Consciousness itself! And when You as Consciousness deems it fit!

In linear language, true enlightenment is a process made up of finely graded stages, with no stage completely distinct other than in academic appraisal- for in real life they overlap each other! You begin to realize that even the desires you had to live and explore all its facets; even the desires for more, even the desires to become seeker …were never ‘yours’, but consciousness’s exploration of Itself through a chalice or form or identity called you! And when one desire is played out, the next emerges…. and when all that consciousness chooses to experience through ‘you’ are played out, ‘you’ the identity merges into the universal self and the world calls it enlightenment!

Like an orgasm, each tiny realization builds upon itself and becomes a tiny shift from personal consciousness into universal consciousness; and just like in the orgasm, ultimately there is no ‘you’ left- in enlightenment does the personal self dissolve into……! A word of caution: if your entire focus while making love is on your hair not being washed, your children not having done their home work- on your personal consciousness – we all know the orgasm doesn’t happen! So use this as a clue and begin the move from personal consciousness into the larger! And yet paradoxically, if your entire focus is on the orgasm- as to when will it happen, how will it happen, will it happen – we all know- it doesn’t! So use this as a clue, and forget about enlightenment, enjoy the moments you call life like you would revel in making love, and enlightenment will happen! Consciousness will revel!

Divyaa Kummar
www.divyaakummar.com

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And yet if we could only become aware, that it is our preconceived notions of the term that comes in the way, perhaps more of us might make it our reality. Enlightenment is not something for the sages, it is not an impossible dream and it does not imply a distancing of self from all that we have held dear.

Life, even our very contemporary life and enlightenment are not mutually exclusive states. And this to me is true spirituality- something that includes and not excludes my day-to- day life! Something that blends with, and indeed optimizes my humanity and its purposes and desires, rather than opposing, suffocating and suppressing them! Thereby deeply fulfilled do we extend the same to ‘others’ around us and extend from self to selves to the Godself within!

Indeed one soon realizes that impossible (sounding) concepts are not really so! Unconditional love, non-judgment, forgiveness, oneness and the like might appear idealistic, impractical, impracticable indeed when read off the pages of a book, but once you are on the journey they become unexpectedly user friendly!

Ask me! I used to think unconditional love was only a sop for those who had no ‘real’ personal lives of their own! And being the much touted ‘witness’ seemed to me a concept Shiva created so that no one could copy him! And yet, a few years into this wondrous path, all these qualities ‘happen’ more and more naturally.

One discovers that it was largely our misconceptions, rising from a half –baked understandings of these concepts, that made them loom so large and forbidding; and the rest of the gap is easily bridged by a growing awareness that literally changes the way we think and feel. And through it all we are moving towards what en ‘light’enment is best known for- increasing awareness… inner illumination… though a series of tiny almost silently building up eureka’s beyond the words that brought them about.

In more modern and scientific terms enlightenment is a re-mapping of our neural pathways, a literal expansion of our minds, into consciousness! With literally new brainwaves, our perceptions begin to change, reflecting in enhanced ways of being almost automatically; as consciousness we become one with all things as they are-and Unconditional love, non-judgment, forgiveness, oneness…happens!

And suddenly, ‘enlightenment’ is an escalating lightening of the heart, reverberating through our personal lives and environment and indeed our world. Individual journeys spontaneously become spiritual service towards humanity for you are 24/ 7 transmitter of this new consciousness wherever you maybe placed in life, through whatever tasks your day –to- day life may comprise of! Without needing to be guru or teacher…!

And the best part! Enlightenment happens in individual ways, tailor made to you! Enlightenment does not need following a prescribed set of must do’s; neither does it imply becoming some impossible ideal like the Gods and Masters we revere or resonate to for we have each individuated to be what only we could be for the whole…. and this awareness- embracing & playing our role in the cosmic play not fighting to get out of it –is enlightenment! We do not lose self but indeed revel in Self in being what the whole chose to be through to us; we do not lose self as much as find Self… in ways perhaps we were not even aware of! And life becomes an Arabian night’s journey …and mindlessness …often considered a sign of enlightenment… is not doing nothing, being nothing, or being indifferent…but entering more wholly into whatever every now comprises of-allowing the play to flow through ‘you’!

Nothingness yet another term connected with enlightenment- is really not ‘nothing’- but no thing other than I! In no-thingness we become all-thingness! Thus nothingness is not feeling empty but full and so we don’t cease to exist or function in ‘normal’ ways but indeed live our day to day life …accepting of all things in our now….blissfully. And this Bliss is not some orgasmic state of unqualified ‘joy’- but beyond joy itself where the seeming ups and downs don’t appear as opposites and this paradoxically ‘neutral’ all accepting state is the unqualified bliss. And yet thoughtlessness is not about no thoughts….but about no thoughts about our thoughts! And enlightenment which cannot be defined, for each will describe the paradoxes differently, becomes the paradox of ‘finding’ that there is nothing to find; ‘reaching’ an understanding that there is no where to reach; ‘becoming’ aware that there is no one to become!

It is the all pervasive stillness and momentum of the dawning that all is perfect, as it is, in every now and everything is happening as it must so really there is nothing to do or not do towards it! And yet this is not divorced from day to day life-whatever yours may comprise for there is infinite scope for inner expansion, reflecting in external areas of life panning out more and more to our individual ideas of what they can best be! And then …there is more…!

And one realizes that ‘enlightenment’ is not some perfect end …something that is a finish… but a dynamic state of being… like consciousness itself! And we realize that ‘enlightenment’ is not one magical moment but a series of these happenings… which have been happening somewhere along the way……and this realization permeates us in a manner quite like the beautiful music that has been playing all along in our neighbors house…but we only become consciously aware of it at some seemingly sudden ‘point’! And the sacred permeates our day-to day life in minute ways – awake, asleep, and playing, at rest or working. …indeed the sacred and mundane lose their demarcations…
Divyaa Kummar
www.divyaakummar.com

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Bhagavan Ramana

Sri Ramana used to say that there are two ways to Self-Realization.

Either one has to inquire deeply with steadfastness about the arising of the aham vritti (the “I” thought–the feeling awareness of I AM) or surrender entirely to the Guru that is one’s own Self, the very Heart of one’s existence.

In either approach, the pure ego, the sense of identity, the “I” ness merges in the Heart and the Self reveals It Self to It Self.

Bhagavan Ramana often made the point that, although the spiritual effort is critical, one cannot go beyond a certain point with effort alone, and that Grace is needed.

When asked, how one could obtain Grace, Sri Ramana would say that Grace is ever-existent and always there. One only needed to be aware of It.

That is why Sri Ramana often brought attention to the nature of awareness and it’s source, the Heart. This can be grasped at many different levels depending on the spiritual maturity of the aspirant.

The fact that Self is Always Realized, and that the Grace is eternally present, can be meditated upon.

So one makes the sincere effort, the human effort, and does what is possible. Then Grace takes over, some Power, the Holy Spirit, Power of the Self—that takes the surrendered mind and merges it in the Heart.

The Heart is the magnet. The words of the Guru are Grace because they make the student alert and aware of the eternal divine nature.

When meditation is ripe, and all the effort that is possible has been made, through Grace, mind and Shakti are drawn to the Heart, and the Heart swallows up everything. The Supreme Silence beyond time and space shines forth as one’s own Self.

Sri Ramana used to say that there is no seeing the Self. There is only Being It!

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• Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi: by Alan Adams Jacobs

Seers of earlier days viewed these highest potentials, qualities, essences ‘That” we truly are, and in order to describe them to the larger people, they gave them form and name. For example, describing life force as Shiva; abundance as Lakshmi; wisdom as Saraswati. And to further enumerate these qualities or essences, as each is made up of innumerable facets (for example life force can be expressed as power, as will and desire, as awareness even; and abundance is so many things at deeper and deeper levels: joy and bliss and profusion of all that is within to name but a few) and it could take sentences or pages or books to explore all the nuances of any one ‘quality’… were stories and mythology woven around them. This is called anthropomorphism – whereby we personalize or humanize an abstract quality to understand it better! We give it human name and form and history even! We bring the abstract to life to understand it better! The intangible aspects that make up our universe, or explain what creation really is, was too subtle for initial mankind to truly grasp… and this tangibility made it easier! It’s truly what ‘stories’ are! It is what makes up most of mythology. For through these ‘stories’ can we more easily understand and identify the purer nuances of Self! And thus seek to be them!

And thus have our purest visions of Self, become our gods! And thus is our source projected outside as our goal! And thus are they all immanent in our Dna…that record keeper so to say that keeps all that we are intact within us while we play the game of seeming separation and ignorance! But bear in mind that the word ‘pure’ is without the judgment of being better than ‘dense’! For actually the only difference in pure and dense is the vibratory frequency at which I am exploring or experiencing Self! Thus yes, while pure does refer to our ‘finer’ vibrations …in the larger picture it is these finer aspects of self, which choose the ‘denser’ experiences to add to their finesse! And thus it works so beautifully! Finer aspects of Self, explore the denser realms to add to the perfection of Self …perfection doesn’t remain a static state of being! And yet, while we explore the more tangible realms we retain our purest aspects- outside us as gods to merge with! And within us -as our DNA to propel us forward!

From this follows the understanding that if our thoughts and feelings are the creative power through which we create life – then surely- critical mass humanity conjuring their gods in any given appearance would create these forms on inner levels? Whereby we would tangibly feel their ‘presence’ as such and thus consider them ‘real’? Strengthening our belief in ‘them’ and adding to that vitality that we first created on the inner planes! And thus drawing even more succor from these vitally tangible if not physical forms that hold (or are shaped by) our highest potentials! Yet if we can now make our gods more humane…not merely view them in the lofty, out- of- reach visuals that benefited us as early mankind, our gods will indeed exist as you and me…and the new avatars that the world is waiting for will ‘be’! Now is the time, and you are the avatar!

Lets take this a little further and view our gods in different ways- Mythological ‘gods’ which I have referred to above- the pure potentials and qualities That I Am. Thus qualities that makes up our very Dna! And our historical gods like Buddha, Jesus, Mahavir, Mohammed (to name a few) who as mankind actualized these pure potentials within them! The yet unknown gods that we are, individuations each on this same journey or play, unraveling the potential immanent in our DNA! What science calls extending the frontiers of our brain! And the Whole, Godself; from which we ‘descend’ metaphorically …for actually the cosmic play is happening within the Whole! Not outside as we usually conjure! There is no thing other than I…no ‘outside’! This is why there is no time and space! To grasp this beyond the intellectual, view in analogy yourself dreaming of visiting another country; conjure yourself older… and now younger; visualize what you consider ideal playmates to join you…and observe all of this happened within you, in the now! In that no space within you! And this is how we play our Cosmic game as God- within!

More so, our historical gods (like all of us) are each a unique exploration of the Whole; a finely honed focus of the Whole; taking ‘back’ or actualizing an inimitable, distinctive aspect of the Whole! And thus each ‘god’ shows a different facet…none ‘teaching’ exactly the same! And sometimes humanity gets confused as to which is the truth! But that’s the whole point of creation! Whereby each individuation explores and actualizes a unique aspect of the whole for the whole! We imbue the whole with a unique slant! We desire a distinctive experience for the whole! And thus must we not get perplexed by what the different gods are saying, but take from each god what helps us create our own vision and real-ization of the whole! For if we all ‘go back’ with the same picture…what a waste of eternity! And yet, bear in mind that actualizing any one aspect to its fullest potential, automatically leads to all our other divine qualities actualizing within us…for each facet is only a doorway! And once we ‘enter’ the whole through it, we actualize all that is within! And become the divine beings that we are!

And if we keep in mind, that ‘they’ our gods, are in the largest sense, ‘earlier’ aspects of Self (in non-linear terms or it all happens simultaneously) we do not feel so distanced from our highest potentials. As an earlier self, they are inherent in me and always there for me to tap into…and contribute to! For ‘they’ the gods are not stagnant, finished…but expanding every moment through us, their extended selves! Perfection is a dynamic state of being…not an end as we often consider it to be! And thus as current self taps into this ever expanding ’god or higher potential’, there is always more to tap into and thus further actualize! We contribute to our god selves even as they to us…what a beautiful cycle…!

Divyaa Kummar
www.divyaakummar.com

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