Month: January 2007

Word Power

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What do you call the consciousness where the all-knowing seed is present? How do you address it? Patanjali says ‘Om’ is the nearest sound that it can be addressed with. When you say Om, the consciousness is complete.

 

Om is the combination of ‘Aa’, ‘Oo’ and ‘Mm’. When you say ‘Aa’, the prana is in the lower portion of the body. When you say ‘Oo’, it is in the middle portion and when you say ‘Mm’, the prana moves to the upper portion. When you say Om, the prana is complete. Om is therefore the sound closest to complete consciousness.

 

All religions in the world have something very close to Om. Christianity has ‘Amen’ and Islam has ‘Ameen’.

 

Tajjapastadartha bhavanam is the next Sûtra, meaning “When you remember the Divine by repeating the word, the word uttered gives you the feeling of the Divine”.

 

This is an important Sûtra. Japa is basically a sound that can remind you of that state of feeling. For example, if you say mango, the word immediately conjures up the idea and the feeling of the fruit.

 

If you are fond of mango your mouth almost immediately starts watering. Say ‘Diwali’, don’t you think of gifts and celebration?

 

Tajjapastadartha bhavanam means that when you say Om, you remember the totality of the being, which is free from misery and which is unconditional love. Om reminds you of the Lord of the creation.

 

Tataha pratyakchetanadhigamoapyantarayabhavascha is the next Sûtra and it means “When the understanding of the self happens, obstacles in your path will vanish”.

 

What is the use of it? When this feeling of total consciousness enters your being, your mind is transformed. There is clarity in thought.

 

There is clarity in feeling. The whole body undergoes a transformation and you will find that you are full of prana and every obstacle in your path is removed.

Behind a mask – Is Anonymity a boon or curse?

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Was wondering why people tend to impersonate or assume different personalities even in places where it is uncalled for. I am a regular blogger on many websites where I find that there are many who impersonate only to make some irresponsible statements (sadly responsible statements sometimes too). Got my grey cells oxygenated and thinking alound why the hell would anyone want to hide behind a veil of secrecy. Especially because I want the whole world to know me and my opinion as mine. Jotted down a few reasons why these people do what they do.

Ego – the worry as to what happens if someone differs with an opinion and differ so strongly that I am unable to defend my statements. It fails my understanding as to how it really satisfies this need. They forget for a moment that they are anonymous only to the outsider world, not to themselves. So despite assuming another identity it still pinches you when someone makes caustic comments. I have seen one of the user blowing his cover trying to defend this non-existent person, making this creating and nurturing a false identity a total waste.

Lack of self confidence: When you are not sure of what you want to say, and indulge in some vaintalk just for the heck of it. But then you are stupid whatever you call yourselves, arent you? What is a name? A rose smells as sweet whatever you call it. An ass is an ass whatever color it paints itself with.

Cowardice: Most of them whose cover was blown, fall under this category. They do not want to be accountable for their own actions and comments. When you have the conviction, you can boldly stand up and make sure your opinion be counted as your opinion. They want to please everyone or maintain some Halo around themselves and at the same time do not agree with some opinion, what better way than to use another identity to express their true feelings. For me, it is not worth doing anything for which I can’t be held accountable. Primarily it just indicates an invertebrate character – spinelessness. Many excuses are shelled out depending on the situation – personal safety(these people keep dying every moment they live), saving marriage (is it worth saving when you can’t freely express?), I guess perhaps one shouldn’t be expressing views if they are so afraid of doing it.

A note of appreciation though, it is indeed a Herculean task to create, assume, nurture and maintain a false identity especially when you want multiple identities – someone who wants a false identity definitely wont be satisfied with One. You can safely bet that such people have many identities, which makes balancing characteristics of each identity a big challenge and proof of skill too (skilful atleast till the cover is blown).

As much as these worms worry about the brickbats that they could receive if they use their own identities, what they fail to realize is when a credit is due, it goes to this pseudonym or nonexistent entity – a wasted applause! and Wasted Life. This is the reason for that statement in the braces in the opening paragraph of this blog (Sadly responsible statements sometimes too – this went waste)

Now, why I prefer to tom-tom my identity behind my writings: My answer to a friend Ramesh Babu was as under.

I insist on identifying myself proudly so that my comments sounds more credible instead of being dismissed as opinion of some nameless, faceless entity. I want the readers of my comments to know that I said it, so that he/she can weigh the value of those facts themselves. Facts openly known, I think, are the most reliable facts. Most importantly, I feel willingness to express one’s opinion should always be accompanied by the ability and courage to stand by them. Anonymity is a blanket under which cowards hide. It serves as a convenient means to shun responsibilities of being answerable to their opinions and actions. Simply put, identifying myself is a statement of My INTEGRITY.

I value this a lot for this than any other bodily or mental risks. Matter Rested

PS: The photograph is Vishnu in one of his assumed identity hiding behind his mask (to tell you the truth, we could not identify him amongst lot of such clowns while on stage, had to take this photograph after he came running to us after the show)

All seeing, all knowing

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The next Sûtra is Tatra niratishayam sarvagnabëjam meaning “In Him exists the seed of all knowingness in a special manner.”

 

The seed of knowing is present in God. But then people begin to ask questions — “Well, if Lord Krishna knew everything, why did he try to stop the war three times? He knew the war was going to happen anyway. He never told Arjuna that he was going to win the war. No. All He says is ‘If you win the war, you will rule this world. If you lose the war, you will go to heaven’.’

 

He does not give the right answer, the right knowledge. He does not tell Arjuna what the result is going to be. The question is why.

 

This seed of ‘all knowing’ is present everywhere. For instance, when you have a dictionary at home, any moment, any word you want, you can just turn the page and pick it out. You do not need to know by heart every word present in the dictionary. Similarly, if you open yourself up to this highest form of your consciousness, this moment, all knowledge is present.

 

What does ‘all knowledge’ mean? This moment you know or feel all the beings in the world and what they are doing. How many millions of people are there in this planet? At this one moment, there are many people in the world who are snoring, similarly there are others who are fighting and many who are just eating. And this is just the people. Now take into account all living beings. So many eggs hatching, so many being chickens being killed. So many buffaloes wandering around; so many cows grazing; so many monkeys jumping from tree to tree; so many ants, cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes, amoebae… millions and millions of viruses and bacteria.

 

There is an enormous amount of activity this very moment. Among this enormous activity you pick up the one — what is so and so doing right now. This is a very difficult job, sometimes not worth the time, but it is possible. Sometimes people ask me how I know the most secret thing in their life, the thing they never told anyone about. I tell them I do not know, but I know it. On the other hand, sometimes I don’t even know where I have placed my pen or comb.

 

This is most confusing to people who wonder how I search for my comb, yet know their deepest darkest secrets. That is the seed of ‘all knowingness’ present in the consciousness. Yes, it is indeed amazing.

 

The next Sûtra is Sa esha purveshamapi guruhu kalenanavachchedat’ meaning “He is the master of those who lived before too as he is not limited by time.”

 

This consciousness is the Guru /guide even to those who were there before. There is no break in time as far as it is concerned. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, that the knowledge he is giving him, he has taught to Ikshvâku and Manu before. When Arjuna asks how that is possible, Krishna says, “You do not know me. See, I have come so many times and you have come so many times. You have forgotten and I know it all. I have taught then, I am teaching now also. I will continue to teach in the future also.”