The Madness of Samsara

Samsara* is the world; not the world of nature, but the world of human beings who torment themselves by going against their true nature.

This world is filled with people who are caught up in self-love and self-hate. This surreal duality is projected as attraction and repulsion, infatuation and disgust, and loving and hating others, superficially. The world of Samsara is superficial; it is not real. Samsaric love is impermanent and painful. Samsaric relationships are relationships of convenience and connivance.

A man or woman who is in love with their small self (ego) is very small-hearted. Their world revolves around themselves. People who move in lockstep with their ego are driven mad. This madness manifests in the form of anger, grudges, greed, despair and desperation. Everyone in Samsara is a desperado. They are anxious to 'go somewhere', meet 'somebody', get 'something', and be 'someone'. But they never find what they are looking for, because what they are really looking for what they really want is to be FREE.

We cannot find freedom by living in our mind ruled by the tyrant ego. We need to kick our ego out and 'put our house in order.' The problem is, many of us have become complacent; we have been accommodating our ego for many, many years. We have learned how to live with our ego even though it is a tyrant. We follow the dictates of our ego and the whims of our mind, and we never know real freedom.

We say we are free, but are we really free? One who is a slave of their mind and ego cannot be called free. One who is bound by their selfish desires and petty preferences is always on edge, always ready to explode in anger when their wants are not met. And how can our wants ever be met when we keep on increasing them?

It is time to simplify, verify, and rectify our lives. If we don't, we are never going to find peace; we are never going to be at peace with ourselves or be able to live peacefully with others. We have to make time for inner reflection and quietude. If we are constantly thinking and worrying and looking for 'something new' we are going to get old very quickly.

We need to take time for inner renewal. This means we have to do our 'homework.' We have to stop going out and looking for excitement, and instead we need to conserve our energies and direct them for self-improvement. Self-improvement means making ourselves less selfish than yesterday. The less selfish we are, the less of a liability we will be to ourselves and others. If we become completely unselfish, we will no longer be in our own way, nor will we be a burden to others. On the other hand, if we are undisciplined and careless, we will become unfit for happiness.

This world does not have to be an ugly place. It can be a beautiful experience in our eternal journey, but only if we keep our eternal nature always in view. We have to stay focused on what is important and real, otherwise we will spend our life remembering what is unimportant and trivial. We need to stay connected to our real nature, otherwise we will get caught up in unreality and find ourselves stuck in the madness of Samsara. OM

*pronunciation: sam (son) sar (rhymes with 'far') a (like the 'a' in 'about')

You Are a Diamond in the Night

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Oh Human Being,
You are the Shining Light.
Oh Human Being,
You are a diamond in the night.

Be your positive self
and rise above all negativity.
Stand firm on the pathway of Eternity
and enjoy this endless journey.

You need not suffer any more.
Open your mind to the Divine,
Fill your mind with the wisdom of Consciousness.

We are souls,
that is all we are.
That is all we could ever be.
We are the Light of the Supreme.

OM

Be Real, Be Happy

If we want to be really happy we have to be really REAL. Being real means not pretending to be permanently happy with temporary happiness. In other words, being real means not imagining that temporary relationships are permanent. There is only one permanent relationship, and that is the relationship of that which is permanent with that which is permanent.

The Supreme Self (GOD) is permanent, the soul-self is permanent, and the insentient invisible substance with which the Supreme Self creates this visible world, and with which the soul is embodied as a living being is also permanent.

The Supreme Self is called SatChitAnand. The Supreme Self is simultaneously eternal (permanent) Existence/Consciousness/Bliss. We can say that the Supreme Self (Paramatman: Supreme Soul) is indestructible, unchangeable, all-pervading, ever-existing blissful Consciousness.

The soul-self (our own self) is called Atman, which means all-pervading. Therefore, our essential quality is that we are indestructible, unchangeable, all-pervading, ever-existing Consciousness. We are blissful on account of our being pervaded by the Supreme Self. Our proximity to the Supreme Self is experienced when we experience that All-blissful Presence, and this highest experience is the highest state of consciousness, and is called Moksha (Liberation), Heaven, Nirvana, and so forth.

The insentient, invisible eternal substance is called Prakriti. This is Nature in its primordial (pre-manifested) state. This Nature is vast and expansive, but it is not all-pervading. This Nature (Prakriti) is pervaded by the Supreme Self and ourselves. Though Nature manifests in the form of the Multiverse (universes after universes after universes), or we can simply say, the Universe, this manifested Universe does not in any way change or diminish the eternal Substance called Prakriti (Nature).

The interrelationship of the Supreme Self, ourselves, and Nature creates this drama of existence, and this drama, or play (LILA) exists for only one purpose: so that we can experience our Essence, which is none other than that All-pervading, Ever-existing, Ever-conscious, Supremely Blissful Self.

So, if we really want to be really happy, we must relate or connect to that state of Consciousness which is permanently happy. If we get caught up in the ever-changing phenomenal world, then the happiness we derive from it will surely change into something else: for example, it will change from happiness to unhappiness.

Since our intrinsic nature is happiness itself, we can never be satisfied with impermanent happiness. Hence, we would be wise to practice detachment from the things of this world; and we would be foolish, or other than wise, to practice otherwise. This practice is a mental practice, because really this world exists in our mind only. From the point of view of the Soul-self, this whole world is just a big drama. When the Light of the Soul shines upon the mind, the mind perceives the truth about this world and is no longer disturbed by it.

This practice is the practice of Yoga. This Yoga is a sovereign and secret science, which simply means that it is one which must be practiced by one’s own self (sovereign), and its efficacy must be experienced directly within one’s own self, which is why this science is unknown or hidden (secret) to those who are looking outside of themselves by living in their images and storybook, manmade religious, philosophical, academic, or materialistic pursuits. OM

Why Happiness Eludes Us

Happiness eludes us because we are running away from ourselves. We do not realize that true happiness is inside of us.

We are running away from ourselves when we live in denial about what we need to change. We are running away from ourselves when we refuse to confront our own ego, and choose instead to seek appreciation and recognition. We want to be adored but we don’t adore our own real self. We don’t want to be ignored, but we ignore our own real self.

Our real self doesn’t need anything. When our mind is clear, we realize this. But when the mind is filled with thoughts of poor ‘little me,’ we think the whole world is against us. The truth is there is nothing happening to us that we are not doing to ourselves. If we are angry, we are making ourselves angry. If we are bored, we are making ourselves bored. If we are miserable, we are making ourselves miserable.

If you think this is over-simplification, then you are simply mistaken. If we mistake our mind for our own real self, then we have created a false identity, and that mistaken identity creates lots of confusion. If we do not know who we really are, and what we really are, it is impossible to be who we really are, which means it will be impossible to be really happy. OM

Live Life to the Fullest

There is so much beauty in this life, but if the mind is confused we won’t experience it. They say, “We should slow down and experience the flowers.” We should slow down the racing mind and experience the inner beauty of this life.

When the mind is brought under our control we are no longer controlled by things happening outside of us. We are completely responsible for our mental state. We can make the mind a palace of good thoughts and inspiration, or we can make it a dungeon of despair. It is all our own doing.

It is not possible to do the wrong actions and be positive at the same time. A wrong action is one which negates our real nature. Actions which are contrary to our real nature will always cause confusion in our mind. If the mind is confused we will not experience the beauty of our life.

Our ego is a beast that does not let us be our best. When our mind is ruled by our ego our potential to experience our own inner beauty is severely limited. Unless we sever our ego from the mind we will never have a really good time. A good time is a good life; it is NOT a fleeting moment of cheap pleasure. The cheap pleasures of the mind can be very costly in the long run. Even in the near term, they can cut our life short. Before that happens, we should cut ego out of our life. We need to lance the tumor of ego with the sharp scalpel of wisdom.

We think it is painful to remove our ego, but actually it is much, much more painful to let it grow inside of us. When we let ego grow in our mind it completely clouds our vision and doesn’t let us experience the beauty of life. Hence, we spend our entire life looking outside of ourselves for happiness and never find it.

This life is only a single moment in our eternal journey of Liberation (Absolute Freedom). This life is a golden opportunity. We should seize the moment and live it to the fullest. OM

The Open Heart

An open heart is an open mind. Mind is the heart of the matter. If the mind is messed up, everything that matters in our life will also be messed up. The mind is messed up when we don’t keep it tidy. A tidy mind is one which is put in order. Peace of mind is more important than the material things of this world and more important than the mind is the Self (the soul, ATMAN). If we do not put our soul work first, then our mind is out of order and out of control. That mind becomes narrow and stingy, and gives one a heavy heart. Really, a heavy heart is simply a mind that is burdened with the thought of ‘little me’ (ego).

Opening our heart means opening our mind to the wisdom of Consciousness; it means broadening our awareness and looking beyond our small self. It has absolutely nothing at all to do with being kind or gracious with the wicked and selfish-minded people. If we are open to those who are dead set on using us and abusing us, then we are definitely going to be used and abused, and we might even end up dead.

One whose heart is open is not stuck in their ego. Though they may still have ego, they do not live for their ego, nor do they try to please the egos of others. They are not people-pleasers; they are pleasers of soul, they are pleasers of the pure consciousness.

In our heart of hearts we are nothing but pure consciousness. When we remove all our mental debris we discover in the core of our being the pure state of Divine Love. That state of being is beyond wanting and desiring; it is beyond expecting, projecting, prospecting, accepting or rejecting. In other words, it is free of all selfish motives.

An open heart is a mind free of selfish motives. It is a mind devoid of any ego-agenda. When our heart is open and filled with divine wisdom, we become the source of solace and inspiration. We become a beacon of Light in this world, and when we depart from here we leave the mark of goodness and pass through the rays of the sun into eternity. OM

Oh Restless Human Being. . .

Oh restless man, oh restless woman. . .

Where will you go? What will you do?

Wherever you go, and whatever you do,

Your boredom comes right back to you.

Sooner or later you have to make up your mind.

Sooner or later you have to stop listening to your ego.

Why are you restless and why are you bored?

You are out of balance and out of tune.

Running with your mind, controlled by your ego,

You will find no satisfaction and no peace.

Your restlessness makes you angry, and

Your boredom makes you depressed.

You cannot find release by appeasing your mind and

Repressing your real self.

Your real self is already happy and full.

It is just your mind and ego that make you think

You are unfulfilled and falling apart.

Slow down your racing mind and get out of your ego.

Listen to the wisdom and take it to heart.

Every moment is a new beginning, a new start.

Live in the freshness of Consciousness and make

This moment the experience of Eternity.

There is no other way to overcome your

Insecurity and uncertainty.

Life has not cursed you; it is just your wrong thinking

That makes you feel down and out.

But what you feel with your mind is not what you really are.

The mind and ego are NOT what you are all about.

Your life is a gift from above, and everything here is just a test.

You have written the test yourself, and your Real Self is

Ever above and beyond all of this.

You can pass this test of life without remiss.

All you need to do is stop your mind from running out.

The running mind is restless because ego

Resides there and causes much agitation.

Besides this, there is also the lack of wisdom.

You were born with a pure heart, but you were not born wise.

You become wise when you control your mind and give up your ego.

There is no other way to find what you are looking for.

When you find it, you will never again be restless or bored.

Make Peace With Yourself

“Make peace with yourself, then you can make peace with others.”

Our problem is NOT with others; our problem is with ourselves. We are in conflict with others only because we are conflict with ourselves.

Of course, we are talking about interpersonal relationships and not international relationships. However, even the relationship of one nation with another nation can only be peaceful if both countries respect their borders. Now, this means everyone must respect their own borders as well as the borders of others.

Where do we draw the boundaries? Our boundaries are established in antiquity, and they only become antiquated due to neglect. In other words, we are personally bound by the law of our own being: when we break that law we violate our own being. For example, since we are human beings, being humane is a law of our being. If we behave inhumanely, we violate our own being. When we betray ourselves, we will not hesitate to betray others too. When we violate our own boundaries, we will surely violate the boundaries of others.

It is inhumane to be cruel or hurtful. We hurt ourselves with our bad habits. We hurt ourselves when we cheapen ourselves. We hurt ourselves when we ignore our conscience and listen instead to our selfish ego.

Some people become so inhumane that they cease to be human beings. According to the Law of Karma and Reincarnation, those who behave inhumanely are not born again as human beings, but instead they are born as animals (including fish, insects, etc.). Regardless whether or not you believe in reincarnation, it is enough to know that those who are inhumane suffer in many different ways in this life.

Human beings CANNOT be happy with themselves so long as they are lying to themselves. We are lying to ourselves when we think we can stay in our ego and be happy. Sure, we might be temporarily happy or excited, but that happiness or excitement will always fade away, and we will never really find fulfillment or inner peace.

Inner peace can only come to us when we make peace with ourselves. What does this mean? It means we have to be honest with ourselves, recognize our own weaknesses and limitations, and do something about removing them. Our ‘doing’ must be deliberate and focused; otherwise it will be a ‘shot in the dark’.

We can only recognize our pitfalls when we shine the light of wisdom on our mind. This wisdom will expose our own ego and we will clearly see how we limit ourselves with our personality, our preferences, our false expectations, and our images.

As long as we remain in the darkness of Ignorance, we will remain bound by our ego-aspirations and hallucinations. Only the wisdom of Consciousness can give us the insight to see inside ourselves and stop looking outside for meaning and fulfillment.

We are full with the Light of Consciousness! Fullness is our nature. When our mind is filled with the ‘fullness’ of Consciousness, our mind is peaceful, and that peacefulness leads us to experience the Greatest Love, the Highest Bliss, and the Perfect Peace. OM

We Are the Energy of Consciousness!

Om Yah Pranato Nimishato . . . . .

We are the energy of Consciousness, and that energy is indestructible. Since the beginning of Time, and before Time, and for all Time we have been manifesting in innumerable forms. Our bodies are formed from the elementary particles by the power of Consciousness.

The energy that emanates from Consciousness is our Life Force. It is called PRANA. That living energy has created everything that lives and breathes. That same energy brings into manifestation the material substances of this Creation. That same energy enables our mind to think and understand, our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and our other senses to experience this vast Universe.

When we fine tune our mind, we can perceive that this Universe is our body (our greater 'body' is the Universe), and that our small self is only a single particle of our Being. This is not an intellectual experience. It is something we can experience directly in deep meditation.

All living creatures are the manifestation of that Supreme Power which is our Essence, but only we human beings on this planet Earth can experience that Essence. It is for this purpose that we have been born, it is for this purpose that we live, and only by fulfilling this purpose will we be able to conquer Death. OM

Self-delusion

Nearly everyone in this world is suffering from self-delusion, including this one. If we were not suffering from self-delusion we would not have come here, nor would we stay around. We would be long gone. [We we not get into ego or stay in ego; we would rise beyond it.]

Our ego leaves us when we stop supporting it in our mind. The problem is, everyone is validating their ego. In other words, everyone is feeding their ego to keep it alive; we keep it alive because we think it is real; we think it is real because ‘we are thinking about it.’

Swamis, gurus, acharyas, sanyasis, preachers, mullahs, rabbis, priests and pundits; one and all are living in self-delusion. We say one thing, but do another. We preach one thing, but practice another. At least everyone should admit to themselves that they do not know. If we know that we do not know, then we at least know something; otherwise, we know nothing.

We are imperfect human beings. It doesn’t matter how many college degrees we have; it doesn’t matter how many books we have read or written; it doesn’t matter how many important people we know, or how many people think we are important; it doesn’t matter how many spiritual experiences we have had or how long we can meditate or how often we pray or how many prayers or mantras we have memorized. We are still imperfect human beings; we are still fallible; we are still going to die, forget, and be forgotten.

We keep on thinking about ourselves, because we are suffering from self-delusion. Beyond self-delusion is the State of Being. The State of Being is not known by the want-a-be’s, the wish-I-were’s, and the wish-I-were-not’s. The State of Being is our Essence, and the state of ego-knowing, ego-relating, and ego-expecting is the state of self-delusion.

Depth of Consciousness

Everyone loves to be in the company of someone who is deep, and no one likes the company of a shallow person. Since we have to live with ourselves everyday, and we take our mind with us wherever we go, we have to connect to our own depth of consciousness to be really happy with ourselves.

Much of our life is spent living on the surface level. From there we cannot see beyond ourselves. When we are living for the satisfaction of our ego, our life is very unfulfilling even if we fulfill all our ego goals. We need to slow down the racing mind so that it stops making so much noise. Often the answers to our questions are right in front of us, but we don’t see them because we are blinded by our ego.

Ego blinds us and ego binds us. It ties us down to our daily routine of self-gratification, frustration, annoyance, blame, and shame. All of these negative experiences exist on the surface only. We need to look deeper to find the cause of our unhappiness and instability. If our happiness is unstable we are definitely going to be insecure. We cannot secure happiness and peace of mind by following the whims of our mind or the dictates of our ego. So long as we are driven by selfish ego-motives, we will remain in self-delusion.

Beneath the ordinary state of consciousness lies our subconscious mind. These two: the ordinary conscious mind and the subconscious mind determine the experiences of all ordinary people. Deeper than these states of mind, and beyond them, is the super-conscious state. When the mind is connected to the state of Pure Consciousness, this is called the super-conscious state of mind.

To establish the mind in the superconscious state requires work. It does not happen by osmosis; in other words, it doesn’t just happen on its own. We need to practice the state of super consciousness. This means we need to:

• Practice being peaceful
• Practice being compassionate
• Practice being a good listener
• Practice inner quietude
• Practice self-control
• Practice patience
• Practice simplicity
• Practice, practice, and practice

We become deep when we practice the depth of consciousness; we do not become deep by just hearing about it or reading about it.

The depth of consciousness is the state of Being. When we are in the core of our being, we are in our center and we are balanced. We lose our balance only when we are off center. A human being who is uncentered is living on the surface level and is shallow. We cannot be happy when we are shallow, because shallowness is not our real nature. Shallowness is the nature of a mind left unattended. When the mind is left to do whatever it wants to do, it is not going to do what it needs to do. We need to tend to our mind the way a gardener tends to his garden.

We need to keep our boundaries to protect our life. If our mind has no boundaries we will not be able to save ourselves from our own ego. People become insane only because they haven’t sanitized their own mind. Our sanity is rooted in our inner balanced state. When we lose our center we lose our balance, and when we lose our balance we lose our sanity.

The way to stay balanced is to center our mind on the wisdom of consciousness. We do this by being in the company of the Wise, attending satsang (wisdom-gatherings), self-study and introspection (inner-inspection), and performing all our duties in the spirit of dispassion. Dispassion means: compassion without any attachment. Dispassion is a state of being; it is NOT a state of disinterestedness, lack of concern, or other form of false detachment.

Dispassion is the quality of a deep human being. The depth of consciousness is characterized by dispassion. The depth of consciousness can only be known through the practice of dispassion. OM

God Is One, Gods Are None

God is One, indivisible, immutable, indestructible, eternally existent, eternally conscious, eternally blissful Being (Reality). That Supreme Being (Ultimate Reality) is called SatChitAnand.

God is One, and gods are none. There are no such things as gods and demigods. There is no devil either, this too is just made up in the mind.

When we talk about the different DEVAS, or gods, we are referring to the innumerable qualities of that Supreme Being Who is One Without a Second.

There is one Supreme Being, but there are many other beings too, some conscious and others unconscious. For instance, human beings and other living beings are conscious, whereas non-living objects composed of particles of unconscious matter are unconscious. Space, Fire (energy), Air, Water, and Earth are unconscious.

Some people assign personalities to unconscious objects. For example, some people imagine that a mountain, or a rock, or a river, and so forth, have personalities. In other words, they think these things can be conscious entities. Some astrologers believe that Mars, Venus, Jupiter and other celestial bodies are actually possessed by super conscious beings called demigods. All of this is a fantasy created in the mind of the ignorant.

Certainly, one might make use of analogies in the shape of a story or tale, for the sake of giving a lesson. This is simply poetic, literary, or artistic license, and examples of this exist in every religious and philosophical tradition. When appropriately used, these forms of expression can be helpful in creating a deeper understanding of things. Of course, they can also be misunderstood, and in such cases there should be clarification by those who know better.

Each of us is a self-contained conscious being. By self-contained we mean to say that intrinsically, each and every one of us is absolutely independent in our uniqueness as conscious entities. In other words, at the core of your being you are uncreated, which means you (the Real You) is immortal and immutable (non-modifiable). That core of your being is called ATMAN, or soul-self: absolutely pure consciousness devoid of any and all mental superimpositions.

Though we are self-contained, we take birth in these human bodies (and other bodies capable of supporting life) for the purpose of expressing ourselves. Our life is an art, and each of us is an artist of life. We use our bodies and minds to bring out the best in us, to manifest the core of our being, to share the beautiful qualities of our spirit, in the spirit of unselfishness and divine love.

Embodied in this human body, we are absolutely inter-dependent with all other beings, both sentient and insentient, i.e., conscious and non-conscious forms of existence. As the saying goes, "No man is an island".

Collectively, we (the entire Universe) are an infinitesimal expression of that Supreme Consciousness. That Supreme Consciousness, which is all-pervading and indivisible, cannot be cut into pieces or made into fractions, because Its nature is that It is All-pervading and Unchangeable; hence, Its all-pervading, indivisible nature cannot be changed into a fractionalized one. That Supreme Nature is 100% present in Its entirety within the core of our being and all around us. That Supreme Soul is the Soul of our soul, the Heart of our heart, the Being of our being, and the Life of our life.

Does this mean that the Supreme Consciousness is also present in a rock, river, or mountain, and so forth? It would appear to be so, but it can only be true if the existence of the object can be proven to be real (eternal). But on the contrary, we can prove the non-eternalness of the object, hence, it is established that that which is eternal cannot be said to be present in that which is non-eternal. In other words, that which is eternal can only be said to be absolutely eternal if the characteristic of eternalness is eternally established. Since a temporary object is by nature temporary, it is impossible for something to be eternally present in it; hence, we must conclude that the Eternal Presence (GOD) is NOT present in temporary objects of nature; otherwise, we will have to say that the Supreme Being, who has the unchangeable quality of being eternally present, is temporarily present (in the temporary object). To say so is a contradiction and is absurd.

The Supreme Being is eternally present in that which is also eternally present; namely, in all of the other conscious beings and in the primordial matter (called PRAKRITI). Of course, by ‘conscious beings’ we mean the innumerable souls in their unmanifested state. Now, when the soul (pure consciousness) is manifested in (for example) a human form (comprised of particles of the primordial matter), the expression of that embodied soul cannot really be said to literally be the manifestation of the soul; nor can the expression of the entire universe (or Multiverse) be said to literally be the manifestation of the Supreme Soul (GOD). For example, when an artist paints, or a musician plays, or a writer writes, the expression is not literally the artist, musician, or writer. You (as consciousness itself) already exist (with or without a body). As an immortal being, you are already eternally manifest [manifest in the sense of being present]. The expression of your eternal presence through the medium of the mind and body is really just a drama, as even the entire Universe is just a drama, a play, a sport (Lila).

When we are playing tennis, or football, or we are acting in a play or drama, we know it is not really real. The part we play in a drama is a real part of the drama, but the drama is still only a drama, and we are not really the part we play in the drama. In the same way, this drama of Life which we think is so real is not really real, it is just a real drama.

As the saying goes, "We are in the world, but we are not of it". Similarly, we are in the body, but we are not of it. In reality, we are not even in the body, we are just in the drama of being in a body.

The truths expressed in this short discourse can only be fully grasped through the direct experience of meditation. Having experienced them, one must employ this meditative awareness throughout the day in one's daily activities. Ultimately, we will fully realize the Essence of our being. OM

Sacred Heart

This life is a sacred gift from above. We did not arise from the dust, only to return there again. No, we did not evolve from worms or cockroaches or monkeys. Consciousness is the root of all life and all things in this Universe. This Universe was formulated in Consciousness, and shaped from an invisible, primordial substance (called PRAKRITI). This world of matter, and all the living things residing here, are enveloped in Consciousness. If the ends of the Universe are ever reached by the scientists, they will discover that this entire Universe is bound by Consciousness. Ultimately, this world will fade away into Consciousness itself.

At the time of the formation of the Universe, Consciousness was present. That same Consciousness existed before the Universe came into existence, it exists now, and will continue to exist when everything else passes away into oblivion.

Then why are we oblivious to the presence of that Consciousness within ourselves? It is because we take this life for granted and don't realize just how sacred it really is. Our life is not a child's play, but unless we become childlike we will not comprehend what this life is all about. It is NOT all about 'little me'. Life is NOT all about 'my' feelings, 'my' worries, 'my' plans and expectations. This false life is just a nightmare that we create in our minds due to the infection of ego. When we are in our ego we take this life for granted and we think life owes us something. We say, "what can I get out of life?" This is the wrong way to think. We should be asking ourselves what we can give to this life, and how can we share it with others?

If we are truly conscientious we will live constantly in a state of grace. We will feel the power of that Supreme Consciousness present within ourselves and all around us. This is not something that we imagine; it is a vibration of the sacred heart.

Our mind must be purified so that we can perceive the Truth. So long as we are holding a grudge, harboring feelings of self-hate, feeling sorry for ourselves, expressing anger or feeling superior or inferior, we cannot experience our Essence. OM

The Horizon of Understanding

In this family of mankind, we are duty bound to raise our consciousness and the consciousness of all those whom we come in contact with (especially, our loved ones). 'Raising consciousness'’ means becoming more and more aware. We should be aware of our own pitfalls and do something about it. We should be aware of our own ignorance and do something about removing it. We remove our ignorance by learning the lessons of life, and not just by remembering the stories. In the same way, it's important that we help our loved ones learn their lessons too. We can only do this if we've learned our own. The problem is, too often we only memorize the stories of our life without really learning from them. This same error is evident in the field of religion, where preachers preach but don'’t practice, and where teachers teach without having learned the lessons. For example, there is so much ignorance propounded in the name of religion by religious proponents whose primary practice is the perfection of their own perplexing puzzle.

People, especially so-called '‘religious' people, think they have everything all figured out. They put all the pieces together like a puzzle, and when all the pieces fit so nicely they feel absolutely positive that they themselves are the keepers of the Truth. They can quote various scriptures and connect all the dots, but THIS IS NOT THE TRUTH. The Truth is in our practices; the Truth is in our character; the Truth is in our behavior; the Truth is in ourselves and its expression is the art of living. '‘Connecting the dots'’ is not art. The Truth cannot be known by an empirical process; but neither is it known by blind faith. It is a matter of practice and direct experience.

When we practice being honest with ourselves, and don'’t hide behind the facade of ego and personality, our awareness expands and the horizon of our understanding is very beautiful. OM

Persona (Personality)

Our persona is a facade, and that facade doesn't let us see the work we need to do on ourselves. Behind the facade of our persona is a disturbed mind. Our mind is disturbed by all the junk we have put into it, and also by the rot and decay resulting from lack of proper maintenance and self-improvement.

Imagine a beautiful home with a nice exterior facade of brick veneer or slabs of marble. But behind the facade the structural framework is rotting. Eventually that beautiful home is going to crumble; it's going to fall apart. In the same way, a human being who doesn't see the inner work that needs to be done, and just puts on a facade of being happy, is only fooling himself or herself. Unless they do real work on improving their mind and making it solid with wisdom, they will definitely fall to pieces one day. Outwardly they may continue to put on a show, but inwardly they will be a mess. Unfortunately, this is the case with many people today, because they are not doing their homework.

We cannot continue to fill our mind with nonsense and then expect our life to make any sense. If the life doesn't make sense it is only because we are trying to make sense of the nonsense. Life is what it is, and what it is is beautiful if we make our mind beautiful. If our mind is beautiful we will be beautiful. If our mind is ugly we too will be ugly, regardless how we try to cover it up with our personality.

Our personality is just a shadow; it is not the real self. It is the shadow cast in our life due to the interference of our ego and self-will. If we expel our ego from the mind, the light of consciousness will shine through our thoughts and that expression will be divine. We can call it 'godhead-personality', because it is devoid of selfish ego. If you think everyone is going to recognize that godhead personality, think again. It never works that way. If you do your homework and consequently pass the test, it doesn't mean everyone is going to know your mark or grade. Of course, they will likely sense your confidence and strength, and may be attracted to be near you --- some to cheat and others to learn. If you are really deep you will not fall for the empty praises of the slackers, nor will you be too quick to advise every seeker.

When we see our personality but don't get attached to it, we become established in our Higher Self. To do that, we have to forget ourselves. The problem is this: if we are caught up in our personality, we will also get caught up in other personalities too, and we will never know the Essence of Being. Personality is just a flavor of ego. Like so many flavors of ice cream, there are so many flavors of ego, but the truth is that none of them provide any real nourishment. It is just another junk food for the mind. Personality just adds more junk relationships, junk memories, and junk feelings to the mind. The 'personality play' is just a waste of time and a waste of life.

To experience the state of Pure Consciousness we must go beyond our personality and stop feeding into the personalities of others. We don't have to be people-pleasers, but we do have to please our own soul. We make our soul happy when we see ourselves and everyone around us as living souls, as the beginingless, endless expression of Pure Consciousness. OM

Becoming Open-Minded

What is a narrow mind? A narrow mind is one which is filled with images. Now, let's come to an understanding about what images really are. To begin with, we have impressions in our mind. These impressions come about from our experiences. More specifically, they are created in the mind when ' I ' do actions. The key word here is ' I ', which means 'me', which means ego-self, which means the identification of the eternally conscious Self with the temporary 'body' (body, mind, intellect, and all the things of this world of mind and matter). No one remembers their first action in this body, and certainly not their first impression either. We may incorrectly call our first memory our first impression, but in fact, our memories are formed from our impressions. The impressions referred to here are subtle impressions (SAMSKARAS). Naturally, we may also form 'impressions' of our memories too.

From our impressions arise subtle tendencies (VASANAS). These subtle tendencies become full blown desires when the 'environment' for their fulfillment comes about. These tendencies and desires induce the mind to 'think'. That is, we have thoughts related to our impressions, tendencies, and desires. In fact, we are prompted, or impelled to think in order to satisfy our desires created from our impressions. [Remember: at the subtle level, our desires are VASANAS, or motivating tendencies.] Our thoughts form our attitudes, or mental disposition. Together, our thoughts, attitudes, and mental disposition are called VRITTIS. Our mental disposition makes us disposed to act in a certain way, according to our impressions and tendencies. So, our attitude, or mental disposition leads us to do actions which in turn create more impressions, and thus the cycle of KARMA goes on, and on, and on. (Karma, Samskara, Vasana, Vritti, Karma. . . . .)

This brings us back to the explanation of 'images'. All images are formed in our thoughts. In fact, images are thoughts, attitudes, and mental dispositions to which we cling to. It is this 'clinging' that makes the thought an image. An image of what? An image of ourselves. In other words, the 'cling-on' is our own ego, which attaches to a particular thought to validate its existence. We support our separate identity by holding on to those thoughts (attitudes, etc.) which perpetuate our separate selfhood. These images are the 'hood' that covers the self and creates in the mind the illusion of separateness. When we remove the images we dis-cover, or uncover the Truth (our own True Self) and the mind recovers from the spell of self-delusion.

When the mind is filled with images (which simply means: 'when we are using our mind to support our ego'), our mind becomes constricted and this constriction creates friction and tension in the mind. We are stressed-out by our own images and ego-expectations. But when we open up our mind, by dropping our images and false expectations, the mind becomes free and clear.

So, how do we do it? How do we remove our mental images? We remove our images by filling our mind with the Wisdom of Consciousness: with the explanation and knowledge of what our real nature is, and what is the real nature of this world (including of course our mind, body, intellect, ego, etc.). The wisdom will create a stir in the mind and make it difficult to remain complacent. Wisdom makes the mind that is filled with images very uncomfortable, but it also gives the mind new insights which are very refreshing. Naturally, the mind wants to feel 'refreshed'. To get more refreshment, the mind makes room for more wisdom by removing more images. When the mind becomes completely image-free, the ego no longer has any support and is removed from the mind. Through intense spiritual practice, the ego is eventually dissolved and the self stands clear. The true nature of the Self, which is self-effulgent and ever free, is manifested. OM

Becoming Imageless

What does it mean to be imageless? It means to be free from all our past impressions. It means to be ever fresh and ever renewed in the pure State of Being. We get a taste of this freshness in deep meditation and inner quietude.

We need to drop all our images to be happy. We need to leave all our images to be really free from within. It is not enough to memorize a few facts, or study a few books, or attend a few lectures. If we really want to be established in our True Self, we need to be in the state of meditative awareness 24/7 (twenty-four hours a day, seven days week, 365 days a year--and 366 on leap year!).

What is meditative awareness? This is the state of deep, focused receptivity of the mind. Only a clear mind can be focused, and only a mind that is free of mental clutter can be deep. If the mind is filled with emotional debris and mental chit-chat, one can never experience the depth of Being, even though one may be able to concentrate the mind on the things of this gross world. For example, there are people who can excel in their career, but are completely inept at steering their life to reach their ultimate destination. They live their whole life on the surface level and never realize how deep their roots really are.

Our roots are established in the Essence of Being. Our roots are established in Pure Consciousness. From that Pure Consciousness, the wisdom flows. We need to realize that our roots are from above, and all what we call real is not so real after all. In other words, what we see, hear, taste, touch, smell, and think is just an outgrowth of something else which we cannot perceive by these means. The mind and senses cannot fathom the depth of Being because we are trying to find the meaning of Life through the false perception of ego. Ego cannot see beyond itself; it is always looking down on others and down on life.

When we are in our ego we try to make ourselves happy through our attachments, possessions, and accomplishments. We fail to look up to the wisdom of the Wise or listen to our own higher consciousness. Instead, we get caught up in our images and expectations and try to figure everything out through the false perception of ego. We become totally wrapped up in ourselves, in our memories, feelings, desires, and hallucinations. We think we are in control of everything and we don't realize that much of what happens in our life is just the play of Life itself. (In the Gita this is explained with the phrase: "The Gunas are moving among the Gunas.")

Our Real Self, our Higher Nature, is not caught up in this drama of life. The mind, purified by that Higher Nature, becomes the witness and is no longer moved or motivated by that which is unreal. When this happens, the peace begins to descend from above (where are roots are). We feel connected to that which is real, and that connection give us real confidence (Atam-Vishwas, soul-confidence) to continue our inward and upward journey.

The deeper we go, and the higher we go, the more we realize our own imageless Essence. When we become completely imageless, we attain the Highest State of Consciousness. We are Free, forever Free. OM

Reaffirm Your Real Nature

Why do we have mental problems, like annoyance, insecurity, grudges, jealousy, and so on? These mental maladies arise from the deep hole we have created inside ourselves. This emotional hole cannot be filled even by God, what to talk about another human being. We think a husband or wife can satisfy the longing of our soul; or maybe we think success on the job, material wealth, fame, or personal recognition will give us lasting happiness. It is not possible. It is impossible for that which is temporary to give permanent fulfillment.

All relationships are temporary because they are based on duality, and duality is nothing but EGO; it is the false identification of the Self with the non-self. The sages tell us that we are already full, that we are already complete, but our mind is telling us a different story. The stories of our mind are not real. We think our mental fiction is a fact, but it is only make-believe. We make-believe that we are somebody important, or somebody unimportant, but we never realize what is really important: our pure, unadulterated, ever-full, ever-fresh, ever-free Consciousness.

Consciousness is our real wealth. The connection of our mind to that consciousness is the real marriage, and the identification with that Consciousness is our true identity. We need to become what we have really always been: the indestructible, incorruptible, unalterable, ever-new Consciousness.

To become what we really are we need to fill the mind with the knowledge of Consciousness, and constantly reinforce our identity with that which is ever-real and imageless. We are not what we THINK we are. We are not what we IMAGINE we are. We ARE what we ARE, and THAT is beyond the language of the mind: it is beyond words, feelings, emotions, memories, and images.

We don’t need religion or philosophy to be good, moral, compassionate human beings. We just need to be ourselves. The problem is, our mind portrays us to be something that we are not. Now, our challenge is to take control of our mind, erase our self-portrait (self-image), and just be ourselves. When we are ourselves, we are not in the least bit uncomfortable in our mind. The mind becomes our instrument, and we use that instrument to vibrate, that’s all. This of course requires practice. It means we have to repeat the good things in our mind, over and over, again and again, until the mind begins to echo those good things, and also manifest them in our actions.

A wise human being can guide us to practice the right things, in the right way, so that we achieve the desired result right away. The desired result is TOTAL FREEDOM from the mind (which, in this case, includes intellect and ego). Really, ‘freedom from the mind’ means the FREEDOM OF THE MIND. In other words, it means that the mind is freed from Ignorance.

It is ignorant to think that we are something which we are not. It is also ignorant to superimpose images and expectations on others. We are ignorant when we ignore the lessons of the past and repeat yesterday’s mistakes today.

It has been proven to us again and again that we cannot make ourselves permanently happy by chasing after impermanent things or getting attached to unstable people. But we are driven by our selfishness and ego to go against what is right and do what we know is wrong. This is why it is absolutely necessary to give up our ego. Giving up our ego is not something we do just once and then it is finished. It is a daily effort to go against the whims and weaknesses of the mind, and when we do, we break the strangle-hold of ego. Eventually, we can remove ego completely, and when we do, we experience our FULLNESS. That experience of FULLNESS is very powerful and eventually cleanses the mind of all its hidden tendencies and impressions. Then we are really FREE.

To attain that state, which is our own Real Nature, we must reaffirm our Real Nature everyday. We do this by deliberately thinking and doing what is non-egotistic, non-selfish, and non-violent. OM

On Dogma and Religion . . .

Dogma is not rooted in the wisdom of consciousness, but in the insecurity of ego. Whether it is Catholic dogma (or other Christian dogmas), Krsna-consciousness dogma (or other Hinduistic dogmas), Islamic dogma, Zionist dogma, or pagan dogma: IT IS ALL DOGMA.

From the point of view of Eternity, all religious persuasions are insignificant and baseless. Nevertheless, from the point of view of the limited understanding of ego-based human beings, religion may be considered a ‘necessary evil’.

On the other hand, a human being whose life is not based on ego (on the idea of separate, individualized existence), that person has absolutely no use for any religion whatsoever. Of course, he or she will certainly have a need and use for self-discipline, but ‘religion’ is absolutely no substitute for self-discipline.

Originally, there existed no formalized religion. But even when there was no religion, we still had DHARMA; we still had our intrinsic nature. For example, when a baby child is born, that child is NOT born with a particular religion, but it IS born with its DHARMA, or nature.

The ‘nature’ referred to here is NOT the nature of the mind and body, but the nature of consciousness itself. To understand our real nature we must return to our pure consciousness, devoid of all mental and physical superimpositions. Once we stop superimposing these things on ourselves, then nobody can ever superimpose anything on us.

We should STOP superimposing so-called religion upon ourselves. Religion is simply a heap of images born out of the interplay of ego and mind. The one who ‘plays’ with the Divine does not get caught up in the personality play.

People talk about so-called godhead-personality but the truth is these people are still immersed in the ordinary personality game. People talk about self-realization, but the truth is they are still strapped down to their small self and only actualize their own ego images. People talk about worshipping God, or worshipping the gods, but both sorts of people never really invoke that Supreme Power within themselves because they are caught up in externalizing the inner quest for Truth. In fact, the search for Truth is not a quest, but rather an expression of Truth itself. Truth is known in Truth. The Self is realized in the Self.

Religion has a vested interest in keeping us in the dark. First of all, religion is the by-product of ego, and ego must remain hidden in order to survive. Religion gives ego a hiding place. We can hide in our religion and delude ourselves into believing we are worshipping God, but we can never realize the Truth so long as we are hiding from it.

The Truth is NOT that we are God. The Truth is simply that GOD is all there IS. Everything else is make-believe. We are ‘making believe’ that we are separated from Him, which is absurd. It’s like making believe that we are not alive. We ARE alive, otherwise, how could we make-believe?

We make-believe in our mind everything that is happening to us. It is really only happening in our mind, and WE are making the mind believe it. Why would we do that? Why do children play ‘hide-and-go-seek?’ Because that’s what children do; they don’t need a reason for it.

We have created this drama in our mind, and only we can decide when to stop playing it. If we think Jesus, or Jehovah, or Krsna, or Shiva, or Mahavir, or Buddha, or some other religious mascot is going to save us, then we are certainly deluded. OM

Remove the Mask of Ego

Om Hiranmayena Patrena . . . (from Isha Upanishad)

Remove the Mask of Ego

elucidation of Ved Mantra from Isha Upanishad

Om Hiranmayena Paatrena

Satyasyaapihitam Mukham |

Tat Tvam Puushann Apaavrinu

Satyadharmaaya Dristaye ||

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Hiran mayena, by the golden

Patrena, disc

Apihitam, is covered

Mukham, the face

Satyasya, of Ultimate Truth

Tat, that (covering)

Tvam, thou

Pushan, O Light

Aparinu, remove

Dristaye, for the vision

Satya dharmaya, of the true nature of the universe

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We do not have the experience of our real nature because our mind is distracted by the excitement, pleasures, and attachments of life. When we are living in our ‘head’ and not the ‘heart’, we are in our ego. Our ego is a mask, and when we look into the mirror of our mind we only see the mask—we do not see our real self.

The face of Truth is everywhere (Vishvatomukha), and it is not possible to hide from the Truth even though we turn our backs on It. But if we hide behind the mask of ego and the false excitement which it creates, we will delude ourselves into believing we are having ‘fun’ even though we are suffering from insecurity and uncertainty. There is absolutely no stability in the happiness of ego.

The happiness of ego is a lie; it is a false high. Ego-accomplishment, ego-recognition, and ego-love are fictions we create in the mind. The glitter of ego satisfaction makes us complacent. To obliterate our small self ego we must invoke the Light of a Thousand Suns. We must invoke the Shining Light of our own True Self to remove the false ego covering from the mind. When this happens, we have the vision of the true nature of Ultimate Reality.

We need to practice meditation and unselfish action, unselfish speech, and unselfish thoughts. These will purify the mind and intellect and dissolve the covering of ego. OM