What Meditation is not

 

The Western mind deeply influenced by Judaism, Christianity and Islam which has no room for meditation. Contemplation yes, meditation no. Hence the Oxford dictionary erroneously defines 'meditation' and 'indulgence in thought. Ignorance can mislead us.

The concept of meditation originated in the East where great Masters shared it with their disciples. Unfortunately, even though India is the birth place of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, there is a lot of misunderstanding about meditation. Arrogance can mislead us.

Every seeker of the Truth struggles to experience and understand. A true master teaches without considerations of money, power, or benefit of any kind.  (Disciples out of gratitude almost always make a voluntary contribution in money or kind to their teacher). Hence the true master remains openly honest, terribly blunt and virtuously open, keeping only the disciples development in focus.

Here is  something from the great Master J. Krishnamurti that I would like to share with my readers. 

There are many schools of meditation, each following its own methods and systems. claiming that if one practice these methods /systems, the practitioner will achieve a certain form of enlightenment. They claim that by their methods of meditation one can realise or experience an extraordinary state of existence.

A system or a method implies a mechanical repetition and that cannot be called as meditation, because repetition can only dull the mind. 

Meditation is awareness, the awareness of our own thoughts, without trying to suppress,  manipulate or control our thoughts. To simply observe dispassionately, the whole momentum of our thinking, this constant chattering that is going on within us.

Daydreaming is not meditation, for meditation requires a great discipline. Not the discipline of suppression or control, but the subtle discipline born out of observing one's own thinking.

One can therefore meditate at any time of one's choosing and at any place. Meditation is observation, an acute awareness of what is happening around us and also within oneself.

Meditation is not praying, for meditation is the emptying of the mind of everything we know, for only then can we begin to know the unknown.  To see something new one must empty the mind of the past. Our experience of God or Truth or whatever we choose to call it has to be something new. It cannot be something born out of centuries and even thousands of years of conditioning or propaganda.

God or truth as we know it by organised religion is constantly decaying, if not dead. Truth is a living experience, that means it is here and now without baggage from the past. 

A mind must be emptied of the past to become aware of the living Truth as it is today. To realise this Truth of the present the mind is silenced of all baggage of the past and all the chatter in the mind in the present.

The silent mind is not the absence of noise, rather it is the mind that has become aware of and understood its own thoughts. Such a mind grows silent and the body stills. Then an extraordinary state is achieved, the brain cells themselves become quiet. That is real meditation. 

Meditation is often misunderstood as submission to some scriptural or human authority, or the chanting or mere repetition of words.

Real meditation is 'Simran' a stilling of the body and mind so as to be acutely aware of all that is without and within our mind. It is only then can we awaken to the Truth frequently referred to as God, a 'Truth' realised by ourselves rather than one given to us by others. 

Do we possess, the audacity to awaken?

Why are friendships sometimes lost?

 

In spite of wanting to see his friend, the  wise man restrained himself, thus not visiting his friend for many days.

When he did go to visit him, his friend remonstrated, 'Why have you taken so long to visit?'

The wise man replied, 'It is better than you asking me, why have you come again?'

Friendships are strained and even lost by interacting either too rarely or too often.

Friendship is like a 'Diya', an oil lamp. It requires a regular supply of fuel oil to keep  the flame of friendship alive. 

Meeting rarely or staying out of touch for long periods, is like depriving the lamp of sufficient oil. As a result the flame flickers and eventually dies out. 

Meeting too often is like pouring an excess of oil into the lamp, thus extinguishing the flame. Only the empty lamp remains, possibly with a few sparks but there is no flame. So it is with friendship.

Another way of understanding why friendships do not sustain is, what I describe as threshold capacity of one's personal space.

Each person has his or her threshold of having other people in their physical, intellectual, and emotional space.

Some need and want more, others a lot less.

Spending a lot of time sharing space with others, like in the army, or in travelling or working intimately together, being a member of a large and active joint family,  or having spent an extended time at boarding schools etc. it tends to enhance the threshold of accepting people in our life space.

Hence, I have a very high threshold for accommodating a large number of high intensity interactions simultaneously.   On the other hand my wife Mohini and some of my friends have a low threshold. They need the comfort of their private space a lot more and calibrate their lives accordingly.  

When friends, even good ones with widely different thresholds share their personal space, then, either sparks fly or exhaustion causes them to withdraw.

The solution is to be sensitive and understand the threshold levels of others. 

Unfortunately people sometimes misjudge or forget where that threshold level is, and I am one of them.

Note: Understanding and respecting the threshold is applicable not only to friendships but in fact all relationships. It is key to achieving success and realising happiness.

Who is a friend?

 

"Everyone is the other and no one is himself."

~ Martin Heidegger

Carrying Coronavirus fear much too far

 

A policeman stopped and fined a friend for driving his car without wearing a mask, even though  the glasses of the automobile were rolled up and there were no other passengers in the car.

This is typical behaviour of people who implement guidelines without understanding the intent or application of mind. Actually, that is not entirely true, they are indeed thinking, but about the wrong things. Rather than focussing on doing a good job, of assisting, they are thinking more about how to dominate and control others. 

Those who have volunteered or been paid to be appointed into any position of responsibility tends to attract people who want to exert control and dominance over others. 

Wearing a mask is an excellent idea when one comes in contact with other people outside their immediate family circle. 

The best prevention for nose, throat or lung infection is to breathe fresh air. Most masks permit adequate oxygen to reach the lungs but there is tendency for masks to pick up dust and pathogens. So disposable ones must not be reused, and reusable ones must be washed and cleaned regularly. 

An associate informed me that there are three of them at home, and stay confined to their bedrooms, emerging only when essential.  They wear masks all the time, even within the house.

I put up this image because I imagined that the terrified ones must be wearing masks even to bed. Now that is typical of most people who carry their fear so far that they have turned paranoid and I suppose it is their individual privilege. 

Caution is good but paranoia is not. The question is, 'Can paranoid people be permitted to make life impossible for others?'

________________

Interesting Links:

• Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth Busters - World Health Organisation
• The COVID-19 Cytokine Storm; What We Know So Far - Frontiers in immunology
• COVID-19: Are 80% cases in India really asymptomatic - Down to Earth
• Global Coronavirus Statistics
• Fear does not stop death - Guru Wonder
• Will Coronavirus COVID-19, kill me? - Guru Wonder
• Can a coronavirus recovered patient be reinfected with Covid-19?

What it takes to be at peace with oneself

Goodbye, Dear Father

Loss of livelihoods is bad enough, compounded by illness and loss of some near and dear to many people.

Humanity now lives under a pall of great fear as the pandemic stalks the land.

No amount of sympathy and condolence can fill the void of sorrow. But life will go on irrespective of how we feel. 

I am reminded of the loss of my father Sardar Man Singh ji, his life and the great lessons he provided us.

Six years ago, on the 1st day of Sept with a gurgle and a cough my father left this world just as he arrived into it.

I was inconsolable, because my mindless heart could not stop crying.
I was unduly brave, because my heartless mind refused to let me grieve. 

Some said it was an auspicious day to die. 
How can any day be a good day to lose someone you love? 

Fate was both kind and cruel to our father, Sardar Man Singh ji (1928 -2014). In spite of his many failings his life was crowned with great success and accomplishments. In spite of his kind, brilliant, hardworking, witty and charming nature he encountered numerous misfortunes. Yet he never lost his balance nor his zest for life. 

On the contrary he transformed setbacks into success and taught his family, friends and colleagues so much by sharing through stories his own experiences and learning. He thus enriched the lives of whoever he touched.

Father was old but in good health, yet he knew that his time was near. He thanked everyone in his life and sought forgiveness from them  for any offence he may have caused them. He devoted the last decade of his life time and effort to helping whoever and whenever he could. The critical and aggressive nature so essential for achievement was replaced by understanding and compassion.

The spirit and wisdom
is transmitted through the generations

As the Guru taught, life is uncertain, for we are owners only of this moment this breath, for we know not whether the next moment, the next breath may come or not.

So use this moment and do what is important, to meditate and understand the insignificance of man and the infiniteness of Creation/Creator in the general scheme of existence.  

As I noticed with my father a transformation took place. We begin to view everyone as good at heart and some as merely misguided. The heart overflows with love and compassion, respect and contentment for whatever life doles out.  A friendly nature emerges not out of cowardice but fearlessness.

As I witnessed with our father, such an awakening enables us to confront all sorts of challenges, to unflinchingly cope with  the most difficult situation, possess the sagacity to accept the outcome and the courage to embrace the inevitable. 

Such a being, a warrior knows, one can fight and yet lose or one can pass on with dignity and grace and yet win.That is why they give life the best they can.

Please believe me. It is not what it seems like.

We now live in a society of organisations and institutions. Local, district, state, national and at international level. Each one of them managed by 'professionals' (bureaucrats) following complicated processes which no one can completely understand or implement. They are all political creatures, and therefore possess all of the negatives of politics.

We humans and even nations believe that things will just happen by themselves, but they never do. The cunning amongst us know this all too well and take full advantage.

In recent times the Chinese Communist Party has quietly and cunningly infiltrated every multilateral international organisation of consequence, across the world numerous politicians and their parties, governments, educational institutions, social platforms, gaming,  sports organisations, and finally media and film production. They do not serve the cause or the objectives of these organisations were created for but are servants of the CCP and its party members.

Learning from Plato, One could summarise 'The greatest penalty for refusing to actively participate in the governing and functioning of organisations that affect us is, we land up with the most ignoble, corrupt, and incompetent individuals and groups leading and governing us and our humanity. All this because of their great cunning and our intellectual and physical laziness.

The Coronavirus - CCP virus pandemic is proof of that.