Paths to Truth

 

Most of us are in search for the truth, whatever that means.

The meaning of truth differs for different people and differs for the same being at different times.

There are three paths to discover the truth of reality. One is the scientific approach, the second is the logical approach, the third is the spiritual approach.

The scientific mind will experiment, and test repeatedly in the objective world. Only when there is proof, the scientific mind accepts.

The logical mind, by using philosophy, evaluating pros and cons, reasons out the truth and conclusions are drawn. No testing is carried out. The entire exercise is subjective and in the mind.

The spiritual approach, where one experiences the truth. They often know not why it is so, but it is.

Scientific approach is of the material world and the exterior, it deals with the objective. In this category belong great people like Newton, Aryabhatta, Ramanujan.

The logical approach is pure mind work and it deals with the subjective and is of the interior. In this category belong Socrates, Kautaliya and Einstein.

The spiritual is the link between the interior of our existence and the exterior world in which we exist. Linking our being and our world, and in this category belong Guru Nanak, Gautam Buddha, Jesus, Kabir Das, etc.

Every individual has a natural inclination and sometimes the gift of teaching and guiding others. Some go the scientific route and some logical and some spiritual.

The scientists often laugh at the spiritual and the logical people for their lack of hard facts and truth.

The philosopher thinks the scientist blind in his arrogance, and the spiritual being as a fake.

The truly spiritual being, simply smiles in bliss and says nothing about others. He or she simply knows.

We are like water, each one a droplet. We take birth springing out along with other droplets of water soon to form a stream. Soon streams merge to form rivulets and they in turn become the river.

Some rivers flow almost straight some wind their way forward. Some rivers flow east, others flow west. Thousands of rivers known by a million names some mighty and some little but all will eventually flow into the ocean where no one can describe which water came from which river.

Each droplet with all its arrogance will eventually return to the ocean. Who knows which drop is right and which is wrong, which is greater. No drop is insignificant but none is also eternally significant.

So it is with each individual and our truths Each one originating from the same ocean as a droplet and returning to the ocean through a long journey back to the ocean.

Truth is so evident and yet so elusive. It is like the air, we cannot grasp it with our hands and minds. It can only breathed in and experienced.

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Note: I am grateful to my elders and various friends and teachers who taught me so much and help me awaken even if so little.

It will pass

We will always see the divine in the form we have been taught all our lives in our places of study and worship or in our literature and art.  
If that should happen, then we should know that we are not experiencing the divine. 

The human mind is so powerful that it easily fools even us ourselves. When we desperately long for something, our mind is easily capable of conjuring it up for us. 

Our minds are very powerful, therefore it projects whatever we desperately seek. We feel we are conscious but in reality we hallucinate.

It is not necessary for us to seek the truth, like insects we can be born and like insects we can die. However if we wish to be truly happy and liberated, then to the core of our being we must travel.

Answers we will not find outside of ourselves, but only within.  
To travel inwards we must get rid of all that is superfluous to our being. 
What are these superfluous elements?

Its important note that anything that comes and goes is not us. 
Our possessions, attachments, desires, and anger, they are things that will come and go. We believe that they are us, but they are not. They are mere acquisitions. These are the things that will not permit us to journey within ourselves.

Then there is the ego, the 'I'.  
As long as the 'I' exists it inhibits us from discovering the truth. When we let go of the ego 
As the Guru explains, the truth is realised not by seeking but by letting go. Because we do not enter the divine, but make ourselves open to let the divine emerge from within us. 

Letting go will occur when we realise that all existence is an illusion or what the ancients call "Maya'. This realisation can come to us when we achieve great success, great failure, great anguish, sorrow, or exhilaration which leads us to meditation.

Meditating because we are merely seeking or because we are bored will produce what the student discovered, that it too will pass and we are back right we started from. 

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Fascinated by Bio-Rhythms

We all experience good days and sometimes bad days as regards our outputs, moods etc.

All living beings in nature exist in a cyclic manner. The most common being the 24 hour cycle called the Circadian Rhythm which affects our feeding and sleep patterns. Thus we feel sleepy and more alert at about the same time everyday even without looking at the clock.

There is a field of science called Chronobiology which deals with the study of periodic (cyclic) phenomena in living organisms and their adaptation to solar- and lunar-related rhythms etc. called biological rhythms.

Western scientists have tried to establish  over past 150 years how these rhythms can be mapped and use a mathematical model to predict highs and lows and peak mood and performance timing for each individual.

'Theory of Biorhythms' suggests that our physical, intellectual and emotional performance rises and falls in a predictable cycle. The lengths of the cycles are 23 days for physical factors, 28 days for emotional and 33 days for intellectual factors.

Impact of Biorhythms

Since ancient times, civilisations have used biorhythms in their social practices.  Modern scientists have for long studied the theory of biorhythms but the jury is out on the effectiveness of biorhythms  on predicting moods and performance. 

One of the advantages people like me have is we have a good experience and understanding of both tradition and modernity, theory and practice, rooted in both Judeo-Christian and Indian thought and values of the West and the East.

The approach of the West is based on postulating a theory and then working on it to prove it by scientific means. Once established it is imposed through the various institutions and often mandated by law. If it cannot be proven, it is simply discarded.

The approach of the East is based on observation of effects and impact, and empirically validate an approach. Once stated by wise people it is assumed to have merit and be relevant. It is then simply practiced by those who choose to. If it works people stick with the practice, if they do not find it effective or appropriate they simply abandon it.

Cumulative Impact

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. If scientists are not able to conclusively prove some phenomena,  does it mean that the practice has no relevance?

Biorhythm based performance is ridiculed by some as pseudo science and others swear by them.

Using the Biorhythm Calculator, it might be interesting to map one's biorhythms and maintain a diary on moods, behaviour and performance and see for yourself if biorhythms works for you. 

'Know thyself' say the wise people. 
It's possible that we will learn more about oneself and have fun in the process of our own evolution.

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Interesting Links:

• Calculate your biorhythm.
• Biorhythms - Wikipedia
• Biorhythms explained based on ancient Indian life energy forces & Chakras
• What is Circadian Rhythm?

Zen Master in Prison

Zen Tales

A Master prefers Prison


A Zen master had formed a habit of indulging in petty theft. Someone's cheap, slipper or a spoon etc. 

The law was the law and the Master would confess to the crime and was convicted every time and therefore he spent most of his life in prison.

People were puzzled that, so great a master was so petty a thief.  The sentencing judges always said. that, "We know there is something more to this than we can understand, please enlighten us". The master simply smiled and always remained mum.  

The moment he would be out of prison he would steal again, and he would go back. 

After a few decades, the Master's end was near. All the people and the judges gathered around him to seek an answer. "Your end is near, at least now please tell us, why you did what you did?"


The master laughed and replied, "I steal to get in the jail and I did it for two reasons. First, to be with the prisoners and bring them the inner message."
Who will help them? Outside, for you all, there are many masters. But inside the jail, there is no master. Who will help them?

"Do they not need spiritual guidance? You will be surprised to learn, that I have found many innocent people and pure souls. Many of them much more innocent than the jailers and the people outside. 

I have converted the prison into a beautiful monastery with 2,000 inmates. 

The second reason is I need much time to meditate, but outside I cannot. The hordes of people keep on coming and I cannot be disrespectful by refusing to meet them. So I escape to the Prison where I get a lot of time to meditate. 


Such are the inexplicable ways of a true master.

Meaning of being Spiritual

I am the universe, and the universe is within me.

To know this and to live accordingly, is to be spiritual.

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Its fashionable for people to say, 'I am not religious, I am spiritual'. They usually mean that they do not go to Church, Temple, Gurdwara or Mosque, but they believe in God. Probe further and one can expect silence or a scowl.  What does spirituality mean?

Nearly all people are seeking heaven and trying to avoid or atone for sin.

We indulge in many rituals, do all sorts of things to ourselves, and to others in an attempt to get to heaven, failing which we try to avoid hell.

It is the arrogance of man,to place himself or herself above all of creation and decide, what is right and what is wrong? Who must do what and how?  

For ourselves we indulge in rituals, penances, prayers, charity, pilgrimages etc. Others we seek to seduce, persuade, bribe, coerce, and threaten, even wage war, and smugly kill other humans and creatures to this end

Alas the only truth is that, heaven and hell, God and devil, are within us. We cannot discover God, we can only discover ourselves. We cannot acquire God we can only dissolve within this ocean of creation.

The ocean beckons us just as this drop seeks the ocean, and once it returns to the ocean it dissolves into it. 

That ocean is within us and we are within the ocean. All that is stopping us is we ourselves and our ego.

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Quote  by Gurvinder Singh

Image: by unknown artist

'Moksha' - Liberation

'Moksha' - Free from the Dance of Life.

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Some lose all mind and become, soul

Insane

Some lose all soul and become, mind

Intellectual

Some lose both and become,

Accepted

Happiness, wealth, health, comfort, power etc. we humans as long as we live, are always seeking to expand who and what we are. 
Sooner or later we also begin to ask ourselves, "What will become of us at the end of all that expansion of the Self?"

Seeking to learn and understand, we talk, listen and discuss with others. 
The more I listened, read, and introspected, the greater grew my confusion. The Eastern philosophies which is inherent within me and the Western philosophy in which I have been educated in and greatly exposed to, provide contrary views on almost everything. 

That's it. 'Views' and views are all we have, shaped by others and circumstances, all external to us. Rarely are we guided by what is within us. 

There can be no greater source of learning and awakening than by engaging with masters, reading and listening to them.  The master called, Guru or Murshid functions as a vital bridge between the energy of the universe and the eternal which is manifest with us.

 To absorb and digest we need to reflect and introspect, for which many hours alone and in silence are necessary.

The majority of people are merely 'accepted'.  They go where the forces of society and power of nature takes them.  Their body is alive, the mind functional but the soul deadened. For them there is little hope. They are unfortunately of little consequence to themselves and the universe.

The 'intellectuals' are not so many as the 'accepted', but their numbers are on the rise. 
The easy access to information, so called 'facts' and opinions gives them the feeling of knowing the truth. They follow a linear way of thinking, often starting with erroneous assumptions and following a faulty logic to conclude things that suit their predisposed biases.

A majority of intellectuals are a menace, because they are always argumentative and therefore  consume huge mental resources unduly strain the mind, both their own and that of others. Intellectuals however are essential to society, for they churn the pot. They are provocative and hence force society and individuals to always question themselves and their actions. However rarely do they awaken the individual.

The mind is a virtual world that we beings create, and the 'insane' are of two types. The mad person and the awakened being. 

Sometimes the mad person falls below the mind. Usually the whole world of the mad person is contained within his or her mind. They have not lost their mind they are merely trapped within their minds. 

The awakened being is also 'out of the mind',  but rises above the mind. Such beings are no more restrained by the mind and the body. This is the state of great masters and sages. A state of mindlessness, just pure spiritual energy.

The masters know that the body made up of the 5 elements, is temporary and will perish, and the mind is a virtual world. They know that the indestructible soul is all that matters, which is unbounded and eventually migrates to a new body in each life.

That is why the masters transcend the body and the mind to become pure energy, which is free from physical and emotional and intellectual factors. They are unaffected by incidents, relationships, cravings, etc. They simply dissolve into the Creator from where their energy  originated from. 

This is what it means to attain 'Moksha' or liberation.

Religion, talk less of it ...

Sadhu T.L. Vaswani

Religion; Let us talk of it less, practice more.

~ Sadhu T.L. Vaswani

Sadhu Vaswani (born 1879) was a great Sindhi Spiritual master, an educationist and philosopher. A scholar of both ancient Indian texts like the Upanishads, and modernity with a Masters degree. 

Always a man of spirituality committed to serving humanity, he longed to find his God chosen Guru.  He was fortunate that while on a teaching stint in Kolkata his Guru (spiritual teacher), Sri Promotholal Sen appeared in his life. From 1920, Vaswani ji abandoned himself to the spiritual path. 

Sadhu Vaswani ji, dedicated is life in the service of God by serving humanity. He imposed great faith in the power and capability of women to play a greater role in 

shaping a brighter and happier future for the world.

He founded a girl’s college to educate women and named it the Mira School, this grew into a global phenomenon known as the Mira Movement. Vaswani ji's love, works and philosophy has  flowered into the Sadhu Vaswani mission, now headed by his disciple  Dada JP Vaswani.

Sadhu Vaswani ji and now Dada JP Vaswani ji, remain the spiritual beacon and guiding lights not only for the Sindhi community but for millions of people across the world.

A Sadhu's manner is compassionate as was that of Sadhu Vaswani. They take what nature offers but never by force or cruelty. Hence they abhor taking life. 

Many people who have tread the spiritual path have turned vegetarian. 

Today Nov 25th Sadhu Vaswani ji's birth anniversary  is celebrated in many parts of the world as Meatless Day.

She lives on

My mother Swaran Kaur ji passed on in life last year.  It seems that mothers may leave us physically but never leave us spiritually.

After the funeral and the departure all the friends and relatives, I walked alone through the rooms of her house. Even with the Mistress gone the home seemed to exude an energy, as if she was still there. I rationalised that, when disturbed or excited the human mind can conjure up anything the heart desires. So I let the feeling pass. 

Mom had cultivated and nurtured many plants in her home and on the terrace. Well I was the only one there so I took care of the many plants.  

 After a few days I took the plants to my own home. It was then, when my terrace garden came alive that I realised that the very same energy I had sensed at her home were also present in these very plants. 

Spiritual by Eduardo Rodríguez Calzado

I suddenly experienced that Mother lives on in our lives. Her love and energy had permeated into our lives, and influences my thoughts, words and deeds, and now through these plants.  The energy and love she poured into me and many others was the same that these plants had also received. The flowers, the herbs and the aroma fills not only my senses but also my being.

Everything we think, feel, say or do has consequences, because it is manifested in this universe. 

Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, just its form gets transformed. 

If we are lucky we find our life mostly spent in the company of people with energy that makes us better, stronger, and yet more spiritual. 

I know not what happens to people when they pass on and I am comfortable with that. All I know is mother left a lovely trail within me to journey on. What more can one ask from the divine?

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I rarely attend social events, birthday or anniversary parties, etc. but when I do, I never present a bouquet of flowers, for they will wither and die in a couple of days. I  like to present my hosts with something with meaning and life. A small potted plant is perfect. Something that will grow, and enrich their lives.

I am the universe

I am the universe,

and the universe is within me.

From this realisation,

began my spiritual journey.

~ Gurvinder Singh 

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All you need is already within you

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Interpreting the interpretation of the interpretation

Curious people sometimes get a big doses of information, particularly when it comes to religion.   

Once again I was being imposed on with more heat than light about the magnificence of a gentleman's religion. The greatness of  his 'Holy Book.'

After listening to much confusing talk, I asked him, how often did he read the holy book? He replied sheepishly that he never read the book, because, the script was in another language, and the words were rather difficult. 

However he knew the messages and their meanings thanks to his elders and the preacher. I asked myself how could a person who never read the book nor understood the language quote so confidently from it? Looking at my wanting to know more he offered to take me to the local preacher.

The preacher was excited by the opportunities of my joining the fold. He was better able to explain about the holy books and the message better than my acquaintance. 

He had spent some years in learning the ropes to becoming a priest. He spoke confidently, sprinkling his sermon with quotes from the holy book. I could understand little as he prattled on delivering his standard pitch, perfected by its repeated delivery.

Yes the book was not easy to understand, the language, the context, challenged him, but the senior preacher knew so much more and he had taught him and was often guided by him. 

Here I was receiving a sermon and explanations delivered by someone, who acquired it from a paid preacher who got it from an older paid preacher. The text that was quoted so frequently, may or may not have been understood by any of us but we were all  simply regurgitating the same thing without experiencing anything. 

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This is exactly how dogma grows. No one understanding what they say, but just parroting it. To show loyalty to a group, society, community, religion, to exercise dominance over others based on our knowledge. 

The followers increase in numbers and and more adherents are pulled in by lure or coercion. Even the greatest edifice built will collapse sooner or later if the foundation is weak.  

As long as no one asks a question everything is fine. Like the Chinese whisper effect a message finally delivered something vastly different from the original message. It is shallow because it does not stand on original truth, often being tainted by the biases of the communicator. Worse, it is a pure textbook exercise, with no one having experienced anything.

Believers are certainly guilty of this lapse, but so are opponents, who seek to condemn a faith or a people without trying to truly understand what it means and how it is relevant.

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Next time you are lectured on the good or the evil of an individual, people or a faith, it might be a good idea to understand what the person giving the message really understands and has experienced.

All religious knowledge is invalid unless it is experienced. It does not belong to us. It can be ours only after experiencing it. Then and only then can it blossom into spiritual wisdom and an awakening.