The Art of Self-Discovery

This post comes to you courtesy Dad who sent me an interesting article this morning. I thought I'd post it, as a continuum to my previous entry. All apologies to all those who were in anticipation of another mokkai post. I promise you it's not far off ;)


The Art of Self-Discovery

By Pandit Sri Sri Ravishankar

Only those who have eyes can see and only those who have ears can hear. That which has to be seen cannot be heard; it has to be seen. Life has five dimensions or five senses — seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching. But there is one more dimension that has gone out of sight; that is feeling. Feeling the Presence. Light cannot be heard through the eyes; it has to be seen through the eyes. Sound cannot be seen through the eyes but heard through the ears. Likewise, the presence has to be felt by the heart.

God is not an object of senses but the feeling of feelings, the presence of presence, the sound of silence, light of life, the essence of the world and the taste of bliss. And our human life is enriched only when we can live this sixth sense of existence, of feeling.

If you are feeling depressed and continue to feel depressed, you create particles of depression around you. Those ions of depressions around you go and stick to the environment. If someone walks into that place, even after you have left, that person for no reason would start feeling depressed. Have you experienced this? You walk into a room and suddenly feel angry vibes. You were all right a few minutes ago but the moment you walk in, all the anger, stress and tension overtakes you.

Today there is a lot of talk about the environment. Environmentalists are at work everywhere you see. There is talk about protecting the forest, bringing up more greenery, recycling of things, materials, plastics and use of more natural and organic substances. A few years ago, this was not an issue at all, wasn't it? Now all nations are coming to an agreement to save planet earth. Like we pollute the earth, we pollute the water, we also pollute the subtle environment of feelings and emotions.

Man has become a victim of his environment. He is not in control of his mind but a victim of the environment. Is it not so? We pollute our environment in a very subtle way through our negative emotions. But it takes quite sometime to clear the environment of this. It is inevitable that sometimes you feel stressed, sometimes you feel negative, sometimes you feel doubt, sometimes you get into all sorts of moods — it is inevitable. It happens. Nobody wants it. But when it happens how do we handle them? We hear a lot about other things in life but we spend very little time to hear about ourselves; how to handle our mind? How to be in the present moment? How to be happy and grateful? This we have not learnt. This is the most unfortunate thing. Then what is the solution? This is where we miss a very fundamental principle that governs our environment, our mind our emotions and our life in general. Our body has the capacity to sustain much longer the vibrations of bliss and peace than it does negative emotions because positivity is in the centre of our existence. Just like in the structure of the atom, protons and neutrons are in the centre of the atom and electrons are only the periphery, same is with our lives; the centre core of our existence is bliss, positivity and joy but it is surrounded by a cloud of negative ions. Through the help of the breath we can easily get over our negative emotions in a short period of time. Through meditation and certain breathing techniques you can clear this negative cloud.

In future, I think the rule will come — anybody who feels depressed, will be fined! Ten thousand rupees fine for getting depressed! Then you will be asked to go and breathe and meditate and get rid of all your depression without swallowing any tablets. What is there for you to get depressed? You are here for a few years anyway; just a few years on this planet. And as long as you are here, you can as well, be happy.

This life has so much to offer to you. You can see this once you take sometime off, rejuvenating the soul. You soul is hungry for a smile from you. If you could give this, you feel energized the whole year and nothing whatsoever can take the smile from you.

Everyone wants to be successful in life. But without knowing what is success, you want to be successful. What are the signs of success? Just having a lot of money, is that success? Why do you think money means success? Because money gives you freedom so that you can do whatever you want. You may have a big bank balance but, you have stomach aches, ulcers, you may have to go for bypass surgery; can't eat this, can't do this, can't do that. We spend half our health to gain wealth and spend half our wealth to gain back the health. Isn't that funny? Is this success? It is very bad mathematics.

Look at all those who claim to be successful — are they successful? No, they are miserable. Then, what is the sign of success? The sign of success is overwhelming joy, right? It is confidence, compassion, generosity and a smile that none can snatch away, being really happy and being able to be more free. These are the signs of a successful person.

Take some time off to look a little deep into oneself and calm the mind down. Thus erasing all the impressions that we are carrying in our minds and experience the presence, the divine that is the very core of our existence. This is FEELING THE PRESENCE!

I am high!

I am no atheist. At least, I was never brought up that way. But I do take time and ponder over THE question (which is considered kinda sacrilegious in my household) - Is He there or isn't He?

I've wondered why people take the trouble to visit temples. I once asked my mother this, and got told off for asking smartass questions in a place of worship. Okay, my point here was, when most households do have a room dedicated to Pooja/Punaskaar, from where does the need to visit temples arise? Is it because God frequents temples more than he visits households? Or is it just the plain tradition originating from years past, which has stood the test of time?

One such answer that makes sense to me is that temples are where good vibrations interfere. Huge temples built over thousand years ago have multiple chambers which diminish in size as one progresses towards the deity in the very last chamber - which is invariably lush with vibrations. But for the priest's mantras, the chamber would be deathly quiet, yet exuding a sense of calmness and composure. Over a period of time, a confluence of good vibrations adds to the aura of a temple - which is immediately felt. For example, there's this temple called Dhyanalingam, located some 30 km west of Coimbatore which remains one of the best places I've meditated at.

I said I was no atheist. I am no agnostic either. I do have an idea of what God is.

Okay, so most people claim they find peace after a visit to a temple. So do a lot of people, after a round of meditation. Let's equate the two sentences.

Meditation initiates vibrations, which as we theorized, are already abundant in a temple. Man feels content thanks to the positive vibrations, leading me to believe that God is nothing but good vibrations. In another sense, God is everything that is good and pure.

I do believe in a God who is not a person or an idol. It does not make sense that God could be a man/woman - and all men and women are bestowed with identical bounties when they take their place in the world. When man is in a spot of bother, he appeals to someone who he believes is a higher force with greater wisdom - like when we may approach our elders whom we believe would be the right foil to provide help/advice during testing times. Very simply put, man looks for someone better than him.

At this point, I am reminded of my Physics teacher at High School - S.Venkatraman, who often used to quiz us on matters of religious/mystical significance even as he wrote down the equation for Newton's Law of Gravitation on the board. He was one who believed that a person is often his own solution. "Aham Brahmasmi", he declared, when a curious student asked him whether he believed in God. 'Yes', he said, 'I am God. You're God as well. Vaazhve thavam. Anbe Sivam' (Life is meditation, Love is God)

I can't help but agree with him. When you meditate, the vibrations you sustain are so powerful that they kinda give you the feeling you've been teleported to some place else, and believe it or not, most people are almost always infested with a new kind of vigour after a quiet session all alone. Maybe this is why elders advise us to close our eyes and count upto 10 everytime we get hot under our collars. Bluntly, after a round of meditation, you're better than you.

In Hindu culture, it is common to see children being addressed Parabrahma - for they've only just stepped into the world - and well, honestly, I can't think of a better example for something so good and pure. Therefore, children are God. It is only once they grow up that they learn about malice, slander, jealousy and hordes of other vices - so they kinda lose their 'good and pure' status. It is when we meditate that God makes that quick entry into us, and for a few moments we are at peace with ourselves. But not for long, right?

When you pay your respects to elders, you're merely acknowledging the fact that they've been through the mill, through life (which is perhaps the strictest teacher you could find) and therefore they are closer to realization of the self than we are, which is why I guess most people look up to saints like Ramana Maharishi or The Divine Mother. They're so full of good vibrations, so you could suppose they WILL have been wiser than the average man, given any point in time. Of course, a corollary follows that God is any equation with a Lim wisdom --> infinity applied.

So much for vibrations eh? For all you people who thought they could only be transverse or longitudinal, here's some gyan. It doesn't come often from me ;)