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What is “Self Realization” and does a person get self realized?
Self realization is an intense yet very simple topic. A hungry Zen master approached a fruit vendor and requested: “Please make me one with everything”. The vendor prepares the fruit bowl and hands it to the Zen master, who pays with a $5 bill. The fruit vendor tucks in the cash, and closes the drawer. “Where is my change?” asks the Zen master. Much to the shock of the Zen master, the vendor responds: “Change must come from within”. Although this funny incident is just a joke, it has a hidden truth within it. Throughout this site and through all my efforts, I strive to bring this truth to aspiring spiritual…
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From not knowing, to the knower – How suffering and seeking begins
Today we need to revisit the topic of Panchakleshas (please see this earlier article). As a quick reminder, the, Panchakleshas are a list of progressive distortions in our perception that lead us to suffering. These layers of distortion are progressive. One distortion leads to another, and it progressively grows into a delusion of a separate entity that our minds project as a reality. The result of this delusion is that it leads us into the afflictions of anger, lust, pride, passion, greed and jealousy. This is suffering. Today we will look at the first two and most important of these progressive distortions that are at the root of this. Avidya (not knowing) and Asmita (contraction). Avidyā (अविद्या) is a Vedic Sanskrit word, and…
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Seeking truth in trying times
Pranaams all! Firstly, it is important to mention a couple of things. Our hearts and love go to all the needy and underprivileged at this time. Let’s all be responsible, affectionate and considerate. Secondly, this post is meant to answer a really specific question from a perspective of an advanced seeker of the truth. A “Sadhaka” (साधक). If you are a Sadhaka, read on. If you are not a sadhaka, many of the ideas here may confuse you. This post is not really intended for you. The simple advice to you would be to follow your social responsibility and isolate yourself, unless you have signed up for a greater responsibility such…
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Viveka (विवेक); Discrimination
नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकः कः ? नित्यवस्त्वेकं ब्रह्म तद्व्यतिरिक्तं सर्वमनित्यम् | अयमेव नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकः | * From the tattvabodhaH (1.1), Sri Adi Shankaracharya What is meant by the discrimination between the permanent and the impermanent? The Reality alone is eternal; everything else is ephemeral. This conviction alone is the discrimination between the permanent and the impermanent. Viveka (विवेक) is the ability to discriminate or discern. This ability is critical to seekers of truth. Without this discriminatory ability transcending the mind, body identification will be extremely difficult. What are we discriminating? We have to have the ability to discriminate the appearances of thoughts, feelings, sensations and emotions from ourselves. We have to be able to discern the awareness in which these appearances appear,…
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Random Musings of the Self
This is a page I will use as a stream of spontaneous responses arisen, as someone/anyone asks me a question about something related to discovery of the Self. Question: How can I plan the future? The current moment is the raw material out of which the future is created. But we are always stuck in “planning” and “thinking about the future”. The future is NOT created from thoughts, but your awareness and presence in the current moment. The more you are aware of the current moment, the richer and more transparent it gets. You will “feel” the changes, the distortions and find that peace and silence is the background of the…
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Dukkha (दुःख); Sorrow
What is Dukkha or sorrow? Lets start with understanding the root of the word. In Sanskrit, Su and dus are prefixes indicating good or bad. The word kha, in later Sanskrit means “sky,” “ether,” or “space,”. Hence Su+kha=Sukha means good or peaceful space, and Du+kha=Dukkha means bad or uncomfortable space. IOW, dukkha (दुःख) or sorrow really implies discomfort, or uneasiness within your being. Where does this unease come from? We all tend to attribute all our problems and sorrows to the outward world. We will attribute sorrow to relationships, to things, to states within the body. However, the reality is that, this unease fundamentally comes from the longing to be one…
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Nirvana Shatakam – Sri Adi Shankaracharya [Six verses for Freedom]
This is my first attempt at sharing poems, abhangs and bhajans from great enlightened sages. This one is called Nirvana Shatakam, or Atma Shatakam. Which means six verses for freedom, or six verses for Atman. This poem is a significant contribution by Sri Shankaracharya, a great sage that lived between 788 CE – 820 CE in Kaladi, the Chera Kingdom, which is present day Kerala, India. He describes what we are, and what we aren’t. That we are not this mind, body or anything external to it. We are pure, divine, cosmic consciousness or Shiva. This video that I’ve created, includes the translations with meanings, as subtitles. Also, for your convenience,…
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Suffering – Part I: क्लेश; Kleshas [Afflictions]
We all are in a quest for Happiness. Absolutely everything we do is for this quest for happiness. Eternal boundless happiness without a moment of suffering. However, on the way to achieving this happiness, we suffer. Why does this happen? In this series, lets try to understand what suffering is. We often use the word suffering loosely. We confuse pain for suffering. Lets try to understand what the source of suffering is, why it arises and what can we do about it. Actually it is the Arishadvargas, the six negative characteristics of the mind: काम; kama (lust), क्रोध; krodha (anger), लोभ; lobh (greed), मोह; moha (attachment), मद; mada (pride) and मात्सर्य; matsarya (jealousy); that…
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A Radical Change; Will you accept it?
Imagine a person that has been walking with a stick since they were born. For no reason. Someone had simply introduced them to a stick when they started to walk. One day at the age of 35, you tell them that they are not handicapped, and that they do not need a stick to walk. That they are not really handicapped. Wouldn’t that be a profound discovery that shakes up the person? Wouldn’t that make a significant shift in how the person thinks and lives? Would that make the person say “do not joke around with me! Are you making fun of me?” In other words, it would really be a profound and…
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सत्य; [Satya] The Ultimate Truth
In a conversation “I” had with someone, the person asked “me”, “Is there an ultimate truth”? This prompted the writing of this article. Definition of truth: The real definition of truth is that something which does not change. It is what it was in the past. It will be in the future what it is now. Anything that changes is not true. It is not the truth. It is only interpreted by your mind as a relative “truth”. Hence everything in the “outside” world (manifested phenomenal universe) is untrue and will never give you eternal happiness. What is the ultimate truth? The truth is that you do not exist. You have identified…