Time is merely another chair to sit and enjoy Life

I am paraphrasing the words my friend “Mathias” said.

The nature of the mind is to move from a tree branch into another like a monkey, according to the “number 1” desire of the moment onto the next ordinal one. The mind has things to do, to accomplish to comply with its conditioning.

From my vantage point, my mind has been conditioned to pursue money, wealth at all costs. “Time is money” is a trite saying most everyone knows about. Once we acquire wealth, we may feel “successful,” that is “we have arrived.” That is the fruit of a “busy,” “hard-working” Life. Everything else, is a secondary branch to cling on: Emotional, mental, physical well being, all secondary. Even those who are “retired” from the “rat race,” may indulge into “busy-ness.” There is always something to do around the house. Some entertainment to keep us going until we can no longer do that. In fact, “DOING” is the greatest mental disease in our day and age. “But how is it that DOING which is an action becomes a mental disease? That doesn’t make any sense.”

Once we “stop and take the time to smell the roses,” we could find the answer. Otherwise we will not. How can we explain to a fish what being wet means?

What I just mentioned is the ontological origin of religion, spirituality and the misunderstanding brought by them into humanity.

Time is not money. Time is only a chair where we can sit down and enjoy Life. Time doesn’t exist in “reality,” but in the game of having a body/mind and fully identifying with it (what is known as “I”) then, we perceive time as some commodity that is running out of our hands and that we need to fill with meaningful activity before the “end.”

While sitting in “meditation” (“Me” time, “Me”-dication) or contemplation and merely observing the trees in a rainy morning, a cat suddenly comes out, moving slowly as if “busy” wasn’t part of its “meow-bulary” (vocabulary.) Shook its body to dispel some of the water and sat near me. At that moment, I caught my mind saying: “cool cat” moreover, there was an automatic feeling of liking the cat. Apparently, there is nothing to it, but when we are observing, being the witness of anything, there is meaning.

My mind hijacked my attention through words and introduced a feeling/emotion. It is instantaneous. That feeling brought me to the next “space time” of feeling good because my mind did not dislike the cat. However, beyond the “liking and disliking” there is the feeling setting the note up for the next second and my mind was the hijacker, doing its thing through its rampant conditioning. The minute we can separate from the mind, we have truly made some progress. Why? Because now there is some “cushion” before acting. If there is no separation between “me” and the mind, then action happens automatically out of the conditioned thought and feeling. Unless I can catch it, that action builds up my unobserved conditioning.

The caveat is that “catching it” cannot be done a minute after the experience, but it has to be done while it happens. That is what we can call being “awake.”

“But If I do not identify with the mind, then with who or what do I identify with?” That “center” that “core” cannot be explained. But only to say that this experience may appear once we observe the mind in an unrelenting way. That observation is truly our “reality.”

After all, philosophers have debated for many centuries about the nature of “reality,” and found out nothing… however, our own perception is “real” for us. Thus, the way out from the outside is the inside. We are introducing a different kind of conditioning, which does not come from the outside.

This we can call freedom.

Most of us are used to, conditioned to use the mind at all times, thus we fully identify with it. The whole process of de-identification and using the heart or “chest”(according to C.S Lewis) to perceive Life and use the mind in harmony with the “heart” and in tune with the “gut” center is what I can call now, “self-knowledge.” It is a balance of all main centers and it is from that vantage point, where a new society could emerge. After all, Albert Einstein mentioned: “You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.”

Minds are good for creating problems. No-mind resolves them.

Turns in Life – Back in the USA

Life is an interesting journey if we are willing to accept uncertainty as the “bread and butter” of daily living.

Last month, I was in Peru. Now in the USA again…

It seems like “deja vu.”

The interesting part is that “anything can happen” and “I have” nothing to lose, for there is nothing to gain. It is truly a game. “Lila” or “Leela,” a divine play.

In society, “I” find myself looking for a job one more time. According to society, I need to show in $$ my “net worth” after years of “hard work.” As a BEING, there has been a tremendous growth. That is my net worth.

From that perspective, I could observe that there is some sort of “bubble” around most individuals. Completely unaware of the changes happening in the World. The apologue of the boiling frog fits this setting quite nicely but even more the “allegory of the cave” by Plato.

The job market dictates: “Strong analytical skills, excellent communication, financial acumen, strong understanding of such and such technology, and visionary thinking to lead others…. “

Only if they knew that none of those skills will lead you into a Life of fulfillment by opening “your heart,” or paraphrasing C.S Lewis “opening your chest.”

“We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise.”

How about a job “teaching” meditation? After all, that is what “I” have more experience in. “I” have tasted its benefit to the point that it is my every day “bread and butter.” What I know in that “subject” is due to my own life experience. Follow my blogs! 🙂 Well…you require “certification.” You require to sign up for classes and take the exam after paying a hefty price to demonstrate your ability to teach. Oh yes! Rather than “meditation” in traditional society it is called “mindfulness” ( A deceitful label where the mind has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with it, especially when we want to experience to be in the “now.”) In our society to know the theory (arranged by some scholar,) the buzzwords, the latest “research” is important to teach meditation. Whether that is “meditation” or not is a secondary aspect.

“ Must be compassionate, caring and talk with gentleness..” Really? Is that another “skill” set or perhaps that is something “natural” which emerges when the mind is at rest, emotions have been healed and we perceive Life from the chest…

Interesting world indeed! Looking forward to the adventure. 🙂

One more time: Predestination, Free will and Karma

I had a little “flash” last night while in “meditation” on this topic that I’d like to share.

Most individuals are afraid of finding out that their personality is a made up product of their minds, which in turn are only layers of conditioning. It is that fear the one keeping us with the continuous thought that “I am separated from everything else.” Thus, free will is another belief going along with the idea that “ I am separate.” When a religious belief is based on the mind, duality is unavoidable. That is, there is “I” separated from “you,” “them” and “God.” That is why, self exploration through “meditation” or “contemplation” is encouraged, to find out through our own experience.

Therefore in mainstream religion or spirituality, there is separation (duality) and free will as cornerstones of their idea of how Life is.

However, there are many instances when predestination is obvious. In my case, I had accurate predictions about my Life. Things that I was told will happen in my “future” which has happened. Perhaps that is not the experience of many but maybe this video of a scientific experiment could help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VZqho-8iJY

Read the comments on that video and we may understand with how much passion many are willing to defend their ideas of free will. After all, they are just ideas. What “it is” will happen whether we are aware of it or not.

In the Brahma Kumaris, there is the philosophy of an “eternal recurring cycle of time.” That is, time is cyclical and repetitive just what Nietzche pointed out in his “eternal return.” Then, Am I a puppet of destiny?

Of course not. We do not feel like that, we make “choices” right? although… there is no “I.” 🙂 Neither is there something as “time,” although we have made up our world of senses ruled by “time.” Can we see that we are slaves of our minds and perceptions through the sense organs? What we call “real” is the experience of the mind, but to discover what is beyond and “real” from another perception, we need to abandon the mind. Naturally.

As we can see, our unwillingness to be open to discover and investigate is hindering the development of our consciousness. Rather we attach to ideologies or ideas and label them as “truth.” It is safe. It is easy. I can find lots of support from others and make our own little club. “we have the truth” others do not. We are the “chosen ones.” That is self delusion.

If there is karma, there is self. Correct?

It depends on what we call “self.” For most “self” is about “my” ideas, behaviors, conditioning, memories and family genes making up an “individual,” which is given life by our own minds. However, is there any self while in deep sleep? Of course not. We do not need a scientific proof of that. We have experienced ourselves that. Any karma there? Yes. There may be things going on affecting what I believe “me” is, even while “I am not “ there which “I” will be aware of when I come back. Thus, there is karma going even if there is no self.

Q: Is karma predestined?

It happens while I am aware of it or not. While I wish it or not. It is simple action and reaction based on the quality of “my” intentions or past intentions.

Q: Then, I do not have to DO anything if everything is predestined?

Without DOING my part, things will not happen. For instance, I want a job. It will happen if it is predestined, right? No. without doing my part, karma, there is no reaction to that action. Whether that happens or not, that is according to the laws of karma.

That “DOING my part” it is what is known as the “role” to perform in Life.

Basically: I need a job (free will) but that need happened through previous karma (predestined.) I got a job because “I” searched for it (free will) but also because of karma of the right jobs lining up in my search (predestined.) Do we see the game? “We” are not separated at any moment from what we perceive as Life. Thus, this idea of being a separated self is an illusion but a very persistent illusion which makes our Life “real” although illusory.

Q: One more thing: This accumulated karma has to happen to “someone” right? But you just said that there is no self. 🙂

Correct. There is consciousness. That is the Ocean itself. A drop of it plays a role, which we call an individual embodied in a physical body. This individual is in a particular set up with family, friends, etc. Thus the experience of that role will be felt as “I.” BUT, there is no possibility of feeling anything without that which all sentient beings share, which is consciousness, the Ocean itself.

The drop of Ocean cannot feel anything unless it was the Ocean itself.

Q: Well… I do not understand.

Ok let us make it easy and comfortable. Let us call that drop of water, the soul.

As we can see… None of the above is necessary to gain self awareness, self realization. It is only a past time of the mind, a waste of time when what truly matters is to realize the Ocean, consciousness, the “real” self, Brahman, etc. Names are abundant, the experience is all it is needed to “understand.” Paradoxically, we are already that which we are looking to realize.

Meditation: Krishnamurti, Osho, Ramana Maharshi and my experience

When I was in college, I met Krishnamurti through a book. After my Brahma Kumaris’ days; Krishnamurti took much of my interest of well known spiritual “teachers.” A few months ago, his teachings no longer resonated with me. How is that possible? Krishnamurti gave my mind “food” for thought. I could understand where he was coming from as what he was saying was my experience most of the time; but as “I” abandoned the mind and into the heart, Ramana Maharshi and Osho had significant impact to explain what “I” was going through.

I wasn’t looking for answers or new things to learn. I was looking without knowing, to read in their teachings my own experience. That is affirmation in some way.

If while in the Brahma Kumaris my main “goal” was to know God, Now it is to “know myself.” That is a big change isn’t it?

Not quite. I shall stop here with my experience because I could be misunderstood.

Krishnamurti mentioned that there was no method for Meditation. In fact, for him meditation was living.On the other hand, Osho taught methods for meditation. One must be “right,” right? and the other “wrong.” Who is “right”? Those who do not have any experience whatsoever in “meditation” (which I call contemplation) will look for the right answer through a bona fide “expert” and follow that in order to be “right.”

J. Krishnamurti wasn’t interested in followers. He shared about his experiences and realizations. Osho on the other hand, had many followers and he was guiding them. The issue is the audience.

As Osho later mentioned, there is no need for methods to meditate BUT for the “normal” individual, there is a need for methods for otherwise, it will be very difficult to experience meditation.

In fact, Osho had 112 methods for meditation which he mostly took from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (https://o-meditation.com/shivas-112-meditation-techniques-vigyan-bhairav-tantra/) a well known book which Osho used and explained those techniques (BTW, that website has very interesting material.)

As a matter of fact, the Brahma Kumaris meditation method is somehow related with techniques # 18,23 and 51. Check it out!

Why do most individuals need a method? Because they are living in the mind and “meditation” is awareness, consciousness outside of the mind. In other words, to experience it, the mind needs to be out of the way or very little of it.

I have shared that the first time I received a glimpse of it was in 2013. Now, it happens more often when I am not moving, but as Brahma Baba used to say: “Remember ME alone while walking and moving around.” That “ME,” to understand it…. is a matter of experience not belief. The same with the word “REMEMBER.” Why is that? Simply because to “REMEMBER” means to use the mind.

A word to the wise is sufficient.

Is “meditation” an effort? Only until it happens, until it becomes “normal.”

What do you “gain” through it? 🙂 When we experience it, we will know. In the meantime, it can be used to gain “peace of mind” (as it is usually sold) for enlightenment, yoga, self-realization, to get a break from the rat race, for mindfulness, to listen to nice music, to sleep quickly, etc.

As Ramana Maharshi mentions, “…to know the self requires energy. ” If we are tired, sleepy, a busy bee… it will not happen, so if we want for that to happen…

Oh yeah! Who was right J. Krishnamurti or Osho? 🙂

Change: The gist of everything

Today is a special day in my “spiritual” development and wanted to share this article. If you read something in this blog, I highly recommend this article. In my view, it is worthwhile to read and understand.

Last article was about Tilopa’s “six nails.” He wasn’t “teaching” anything but merely describing a state of BEING which is known as “no-mind.” To understand that, we need to go first into the mind.

If you are “new” or “seasoned” in the path of “spirituality,” or “searching for truth,” the most important thing someone could do in my experience, is to have a deep look at their own mind AND to be aware of their own emotionality or unresolved traumas. That is all. 🙂

How deep you go into those 2 rabbits’ holes is what will give you a state of BEING.

Most psychologists or psychiatrists studying the mind, would like to understand the mind from the mind. Their approach is very limited. It is only a description, a comparison against something idealized as “normal.” In “spirituality” however, there is a need to be aware of the mind but from AWARENESS itself, which is completely different than the mind. How do you get there?

By sitting and looking at the wall. Literally. Doing “nothing.” The caveat is that if “you” DO something, awareness will not be known.

That is, if you sit with the purpose of knowing awareness, you are gone! Sit there without a purpose. Just for the heck of it. Thoughts arrive, outside noises appear, inside noises arrive, watch.That is hard to do for mind-driven individuals, who want to “achieve” something for “time is money.” That is why, these individuals are into another path which is not self-realization.

There is no purpose. No motive other than perhaps rest and relax. (If we want to call that a purpose. That is the “sixth nail” of Tilopa.)

Here is a nice explanation from Osho:

Notice that he calls that “meditation.” I like to call it “contemplation,” someone else may call it “mindfulness,” or whatever label. How about “sit there and do nothing.” Labels are not important, but the experience, “your” experience is.

In this state, things happen to you. Change happens as we develop the habit. Nobody does anything. Little by little, awareness appears as a shy rabbit sticking its nose from its rabbit hole, then the head, ears, etc. It is in that state how we can look, observe, watch, become aware of the mind, so it looses its grip on us by doing nothing. Just by becoming aware of it. Becoming AWARE is not a DOING. It happens.

Then, I recommend this video:

You will fully understand it when you have experienced a bit of the above.

Some may want to use their thoughts to change another. Some may want to use their thoughts to change themselves. Others do not want thoughts to interfere and fight with them, but yet others become AWARE of thoughts and drop their identity from what the mind says, reacts, imagines or recalls. Then, CHANGE happens without changing anything.

Good to remember: “When we DO something (intentionally, with purpose,) we do not allow for change to happen naturally, for Change is all there is.” When we sit, rest, relax, allow… then Change happens… 🙂