"When you come out of prison you will see your mind is there intact. All your knowledge is intact, but you’re out of it. It’ll be working automatically and it will beautifully run your life. The problem is when you get involved. When you merely become a witness consciousness the mind is automatically functioning."- Sri Bhagavan
The fusion of high gyaana with intense bhakti is an oft observed spiritual phenomena. Ramana's passionate bhajans are legendary. A thriving bhakti movement across the world exists with Nisargadatta. Paradoxes rest at comfortable peace with each other at higher levels of consciousness.Conflict dissolves and what is remains.
when we encounter discomfort on our spiritual journeys, each discomfort is a wake-up call, an attention caller to an evolutionary opportunity...if we skirt the discomfort , we also move away from the opportunity of receiving a great gift it represents.
d mind is in the past or in d future; never in d present.in awareness, one is in d present in d presence.
Growth is often difficult. It's because we have to face our current fears and perceptions and look them square in the face. More than that...sometimes we have to really go deeply into them to "see" our mental entanglements. That's what some traditions call "going into the mouth of the dragon."
Let your upsets guide you to the dragon's lair. Your upsets are caused by your perceptions. If you're upset...even if you're upset about being upset...you are at the dragon's gate. Go farther inside to see all of your mind's judgments and conclusions and fears. Ask yourself...
What am I afraid of
What do I believe about this
Who or what am I blaming
Remember, you don't need to change your thoughts and perceptions...simply look at them. See them. This in itself will cause them to dissolve.
Then...keep going in. Often, we have perceptions built on top of perceptions and they weave a complex knot of mental activity. We can't always see the entire "knot" at once. Keep looking. Keep following your charges and upsets. Each time you see more of it, another part will dissolve and you will be liberated from it.
And the dragon will become your friend and ally.
In a recent audience with process participants, Bhagavan said, You are under the illusion that you take decisions.Actually, it is the controlling self which does.We normally react in an auto - reply fashion to events /words/people that meet us in life. It is a reaction of memory to external stimulus.We give so much credence to thought and thinking when Bhagavan keeps on reminding us that Thought is the problem. Thinking cannot solve problems as it is coming from the recesses of memory and conditioned mental formations.When we are aware every moment that it is this conditioning that architectures our lives, reaction gives way to response.Response emerges in supreme intelligence.When we are de-clutched from the mind process, natural intelligence flowing through us is a happening.it is our perceptional filters which disallow our access to natural intelligence.Knowledge emerges in conditioning, intelligence emerges in realms beyond conditioning.
Sri Bhagavan says that everything and everyone is connected.What we are doing at this moment has its' impact on the whole of human consciousness.A drop of milk added to a glass of water spreads through the water.If a part of the body is hurt, the entire body suffers.The violence in us contributes to the violence in the world.Our healing contributes to the healing of the world.Each of us blessed to be a part of this cosmic process at this moment also have to be very responsible through our integrity.Liberation is a movement in consciousness of all of humanity.Every breath we take, every move we make forms part of this movement.An awareness of this makes every moment of our life filled with sacredness and reverence.Small steps, giant leaps in the microcosm affect the macrocosm.
Suppose we are in a situation where we are cut off from being able to perceive the external.There is pain within us; can we really fathom what has really caused it?Is there a difference in the pain we feel from financial crisis, a broken relationship, a health issue or any other.If we were to be able to see just the pain, can we really infer the event behind it?The answer is no.We feel events cause us pain while in reality it is the other way around. The pain within us causes the events in our external world.Sri Bhagavan says that the pain in our life is a constant, an aggregate of the physical, psychological and spiritual. When we apparently release ourselves, we merely move from one aspect of pain to the other. Fundamantally, the pain in our system remains constant.If we are grappling with a psychological issue, say , in a relationship; it converts into a headache or any other physical discomfort for we are unable to cope with the psychological pain.A physical pain can often be managed by popping a pill.It does not imply a release from the pain, it merely implies a convenient management.Which is what Bhagavan keeps reminding us - we have graduated in the art of sorrow management. Management is just that - far away from a release.Bhagavan's benediction is for our pain to release, not to be merely managed.We keep swapping events in quest of a release from meaninglessness, boredom, frustration , fear and any other reality within us.By moving across events, we are essentially escaping the reality of our selves, the pain that is intrinsic to the self.We anaesthezise ourselves through indulgence in activities of various kinds and keep changing activities to keep ourselves amused.When we encounter darkness and it stimulates fear to surface, we move away from the darkness. Bhagavan tells us to stay in the darkness while watching the fear.Where and what we watch makes all the difference!!!!!!!!!The fundamental pain remains across activities and events.I have found awakening to this reality of the ONENESS of all pain to be a significant breakthrough. And pain , when experienced totally, leads us to bliss, satchidananda.Therein lies release, not mere management.It is our indulgence in the event, the actors therein or the apparent causes which move us away from our capacity to experience.Being in touch with the pain is the bridge to the discovery of love and joy in our lives.It is independent of events - awareness is freedom.And the Oneness Blessing is like a lighted candle entering a dark room.....as light enters, darkness moves away.It need not be removed.
When we encounter conflict, the tendency is to focus on the content of the conflict and try to arrive at a solution through a choice.In the context of inner world paradigms, whatever solution we arrive at seems incomplete - there is residual discontent, a lack of fulfillment.
Sri Bhagavan extols us to focus on the process of conflict which is intrinsic to operations emerging in the mind.The presence of conflict is an indicator that the mind is in operation.
Watching this awakens the witness consciousness.The first level of watching is inclusive of judgmental perspectives.Watching the judgement and the mind commentary leads us to the second level of watching - a state of awareness.
Awareness, in Bhagavan's words , is freedom.
Action emerges here. Activity is created in noise, in disturbance which is an attribute of conflict, which in turn is an attribute of the mind.An unawakened life is architectured by this noise , this disturbance while an awakened life is architectured by divine intelligence.
In an unawakened state, a sense of urgency forces us towards a decision to escape the total experiencing of the conflict.And such a decision is always a compromise, a management.And it seeks support and justification through a structure created out of untruth and lies.
On the other hand, watching the process of conflict leads to its' dissolution.The resultant absence of noise enables a decision naturally, a river in flow.
Every conflict demands our attention - to the process rather than the content, a pause to watch.And then the miracle unfolds.....
Bhagavan has always said that what we call suffering is actually running away from suffering.
Generally , when an event happens , our focus is on the content or the person.We blame someone, we justify the event etc.We go to teh past this way. Alternately, we project a solution - move into the future.
Healing is a happening in the "present".And the reality of the moment is "pain and helplessness". If we are able to stay in that reality, the miracle happens.We experience the pain totally which leads us to the realization that " The nature of all expereince is bliss ; it is independent of content of experience."
A few months back, I was involved in a serious road accident where my three wheeler was hit by a speeding car at the base of a fly-over.I was dragged nearly 200 metres with the three wheeler on top of me.With Bhagavan's Grace, I was filled with the presence and I was just watching the momentary fear which consumed me.
I can vouch for the bliss I felt.I did not escape by blaming the driver of the hit-and-run vehicle nor did I feel any haterd for him.I did not move into the future by projecting what was going to happen to me.Needless to add, it was Grace which made me live in the present and experience the moment totally.
Externally too, such a major accident left me a few surface bruises and no damage to my belongings which included my laptop.This accident occured on an expressway which meant that any speeding vehicle from behind could also have knocked me out.
Infact , we had a bhajan recording project the next day with Rohit Dasaji which went as per schedule.
Glory be to the presence of Sri Amma Bhagavan and the Oneness Blessing in our lives.
When we re-orient our perceptions or choose an alternate concept, are we not merely rearranging ourselves cosmetically. Genuine freedom is an inner state of being independent of circumstances.It is not a repositioning or a changing of circumstances which at most gives temporal relief; it is rather a "happening" within. In true freedom, there is no choice....we just are in flow....the way we are...In search of freedom and happinessMan invents excitements and escapes.Are freedom and happinessCultivated attitudes of mind ?Or are they the outcome of internal beingUnrelated to mind?- Dada Gawand
The nature of experience is bliss...it is independent of content of experience
- Sri Bhagavan
Whenever I experience the above, I am always fascinated.
Currently, I am going through an experience which can conventionally be termed unpleasant.A few years back I would have been anxiety driven and reactive.
Today, I am just experiencing the event and am responsive.
Thank You Bhagavan for this invaluable gift of grace......
suffering is the story created to escape raw, naked pain....
suffering is illusionary, pain is real.....miracles can happen if we are in touch with raw pain...instead we focus on content or people and escape the experience of pain which can liberate us.
a couple of days back, somebody, to defend their positionality told me that their inner dweller, the antaryamin was guiding them. How I pray and wish that this happens to one and all.
It is , however, a challenge to be able to distinguish between Higher Consciosuness guidances and mind level games of manipulation. This is not a recognition driver event.We do not need to prove to someone that we are being guided. It suffices for us to know the same and celebrate Grace in our lives. Gratitude flows abundantly and spontaneously and every moment of our life is filled in awe of the presence. Living in an awakened presence is naturally joyous and blissful, full of love for one and all, it revels in itself. Events outside do not touch us. We just flow through them and move on. The anchored joy and love sustains across the most devastating mind cyclones.
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