WUI - writing under influence

This is a disclaimer. It claims that most of these posts, especially the ones that resonate with the majority of people and find harmony at the deepest level, are written under influence. Under the influence of intoxicating subtances that make one forget about the false reality of the universe in its manifested form. Whether these are external in the form of physical liquids, solids, or internal, in the form of the joy that is ever inherent to oneself, sometimes discovered through external activities themselves or merely activities dependant on other factors is just a matter of coincidence.

In simple words, what this means is, there are many ways to dissolve the ignorance of the mind that brings forth the shining light of the self in its full glory even if momentary. This can be through the consumption of intoxicating substances which however leave a harmful side effect in the form of addiction, on the mind. Or, it can be in the form of certain practices like meditation, which again can run the risk of being addicted to the path than to strive for the end goal! It can even be as simple as a fulfilling achievement that causes the mind to dissolve itself the moment the object of attachment is attained, which is however momentary. Exercise can also cause this by releasing certain chemicals in the brain as the sense of self is expanded to include the sport being indulged in by the body. It is important to note that the true purpose of life that teaches through these experiences is to let one attain the highest state of mind, the true formless self, to ever experience such unhindered joy forever!

A favourite pasttime

It was always an acitivity that used to give me great pleasure. To watch old kannada songs or atleast hear them somewhere, even if in the distance on a radio playing in the neighbouring apartment. Maybe it was becauase I'm an old fashioned guy who will never become 'with the times'. Maybe it is because as a kid my mom used to play the radio every morning and as I got ready for school these same songs used to play and strike a resonant chord with my heart. Maybe its because the old times are when life was un hurried, less hectic, full of romanticism - atleast one would like to associate a memory with more glorious times. Nevertheless, the video in these songs evokes some extremely fond memories of trekking in the western ghats with glorious views afar and soothing greenery nearby.

Now as I enter a new phase of life, I can imagine and put myself - again here, the 'self' is the much abused word used in ignorance to denote the body-mind complex, while it means the self of the universe and beyond in the real sense. Though, for transactional daily purposes especially in such mundance posts of desires, memories and the mind, I shall use it in the 'normal' sense of ignorance. So, continuing, I can put myself and my 'would be' in the picturisation of each of these songs - its really beautiful !

The current song I'm listening to is 'naaninna mareyalaare'... how can one forget the ones dear to oneself? I cannot help delving deeper than meets the eye to say how can one forget ones self. The 'I' ness is and will always be inherent, though in a mistaken sense mostly till the ignorance is given up! Another song which I now listen to now is 'nagunagutaa nee baruve'.... for the sake of a single liftetime, it is sufficient to assume one gets happiness from another person, the significant other with whom one spends an entire life. But what beyond the life? What about eternity? Thankfully, no ignorance can exist for ever and that is solace to us deluded individuals imagining ourselves to be mere mortals.
'eko eno eenanna manuvu uyaale anthe toogide' talks about the swinging nature of the mind. The mind is better known as the monkey mind, swinging between one thought or desire to another with no end in sight. Basically, all songs and all lyrics are outpourings of the mind, experiencing often the 'no mind' state that gives joy!

Shifting back, its good that technology for video streaming has improved to the extent that one can watch videos in low resolution without awaiting removal of jerkiness during buffering intervals. At the same time, at a broader reflection it is to be seen that the technology to 'keep in touch' with ones memories whether it is of songs, incidents, people, etc is only keeping pace, just about, with the technology to take people farther away than their minds could imagine!!! So, in some sense, if 'progress' didn't exist then nothing would be amiss, definitely not happiness!

In the hands of the unknown

This year has been a roller coaster of unusual ups and downs. As I introspect I wish to be always positive and hopeful so I'll list down in chronological order, the upswings first:

1. I did a 10 day solo trip hiking some beautiful mountains surrounded by lakes. It was a near meditative experience being alone so long in such quiet, desolate places.

2. I got engaged to a very lovely girl of my dreams, though dreams and characters are never static!

3. I finally got a transfer to the group of my choice within my present company, something that had kept me on a painfully long wait due to bureaucratic processes

4. My parents visited me in a foreign land, an event which unfortunately had never occured in another foreign land even further across the seas

Now for the negative events, though it'll be seen how atleast some of these so called terrible events had some purpose:

1. My passport was misplaced by my home country authorities in this foreign country. It caused unnecessary tension, more so to my close family than to me. But this later proved to be a blessing in disguise as 2 above (& less importantly 1 also) would have never happened without this mishap.

2. I had a near fatal accident where the car ended up gruesomely mangled up. On the positive note, all of us escaped nearly unhurt, so that's the best part.

3. I got swindled of a very large sum of money by an unscrupulous real estate agent. Again, on the positive note, this later saved me from spending much more money by living on my own. Its just how I look at it now.

4. My house got burgled and 2 valuable laptops stolen. Lost some un-backed up data too! Again, the silver lining is that I received a much better performing newer, sleeker laptop.

All in all, it evens out or can actually be said that's its a great year for me. Its all a matter of perspective. Some may say I was jinxed. I'd prefer to look at the very large silver linings in each of these and be very thankful for a pleasant turn of events. This year the events have flowed in such a way that most of them can be said to be more of 'fate' than free will, if at all that exists in a dream characters dream world!

One of the paths...

Most of us lead a deluded existence identifying with the ego comprised of the body and mind. At the root of all our thoughts and emotions lies this ego. So, the best way to root out the ego is to observe the thoughts & emotions constantly and trace their origin. At the most fundamental level the ego also has its birth from the 'source' consciousness or the self. So on removal of the ego, as mistakenly understood by some, it is not nothingness and loss of identity, rather it is the real identity emerging from the shadow of ignorance.

What can lead us to seek this? It may be some trivial problems in life, or in general a feeling of limitedness that is tightly constraining. After all, what sort of freedom is it as long as one identifies with a body that ages every moment, whose critical functions are all involuntary, and a mind that one knows nothing about, yet which seems to dictate each & every outcome of life?!

As I enter into a new phase of life the larger purpose becomes immediately clear. There is a mirror to the mind at most instants and its easy to observe progress in self enquiry. Sometimes attachment develops to a very large extent. Previously the technique practiced was to try and avoid thoughts or divert them - but that is largely useless as its impossible to control flow of a river. However, with self enquiry, one focuses on the self which is the self of all and since there is unity and harmony, there is no 'other' than one's true self, thus removing attachment and every other unwanted thought.

It is similar to dipping a salt statue repeatedly in the sea to dissolve the salt in the sea and once the statue disappears or rather, merges into the sea which anyway contains infinite salt, then only the sea remains! By dipping the mind and its thoughts back into the self constantly, in the beginning it takes conscious effort (of the mind itself) but gradually when it becomes smooth and effortless its an amazing feeling. There is total calm and peace. The most crucial advantage of this method is that it can be practiced at any instant of time and has no relevance to the situation or the state of mind/ body! One can be walking on the road, in a meeting, studying something, all the while resting in the nature of one's self! Having said this it is to be noted that, in a subtler state of mind its much easier to see the light of the self.

A major and often encountered pitfall is the stage where the ego becomes miniscule but doesn't disappear totally. Then there are periods of knowledge where the magnitude of everything other than the finite becomes known. But this is the crucial period that has to be gone beyond to completely extinguish all traces of the ego. That is when the knowledge dawns in its permanence!