Existence

Pujya Gurudev Pt. ShriRam Sharma’s Kripa

Timeless Existence

(Akhand Jyoti,Sept.oct.2006)

The volume of air inflated in balloon remains confined to a fixed size. The moment this sheath is removed, it spreads freely and unifies with its gigantic expansion in the open space (in earth’s atmosphere). The same is true of the human self. Till it lives in the gross body and is attached to the experiences of the latter, its identity is bound by that of the body and remains limited to that of a living toy of flesh and bones. However, as this bondage of attachments is freed, its existence evolves in the subliminal realms and eventually transmutes it into its infinite origin. Nothing would then be unknown or beyond its realization. The state of sublime realizations is referred as that of timeless existence. In the normal case, we experience our selves and the existence of the world in the present tense. The past and the future are beyond our reach. 

Although the present contains the past and the future in its continuous flow, we do not realize this because of the subliminal existence of the latter two phases of time. But, sublime does not mean false or non-existent. Whatever we utter from the mouth or whatever sound is produced near us appears to be lost the moment we have heard it. But the physicists know that sound is never lost. Whatever we can’t hear exists beyond our audible frequency range. Kindling of fire generates (thermal) energy; this energy would continue to exist even after the fire is extinguished. By the universal law of conservation of energy, this ’invisible’ energy would be never lost. The gross (physical) body dies and disintegrates into the basic elements of Nature that constitute it. But the soul, the eternal flow of life (consciousness) never dies.

The same is true of every incident or experience. Whatever we perceive or experience in the present phase of time is only a manifestation of the unexpressed (what ’was’ existing in the ’future’ until then) or the subliminal into a form that could be grasped by our conscious faculties and sense organs. The same continues to exist as it is but in a time-domain that becomes ’past’ for us. As discussed earlier, the division of time in the past, present and future is only relative with respect to the experiences or activities in the physical (gross) world perceived by our conscious mind. Scientific theories define time as a continuous, complete unit. The past, present and the future are not disjoint in reality. In linear dimension, the present is a continuous interval with the left end opening in the past and the right in the future. Mathematical physicists have analyzed the possibility of realization of the past and the future in the present under several nonlinear, multidimensional models.

Thanks GOD,Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma

Silence

Pujya Gurudev Pt. ShriRam Sharma;s Kripa

Silence

(Akhand Jyoti Nov.Dec.2004)

(An excerpt from Catherine Ingram’s Book - Passionate Presence) Published with the Author’s glad consent Catherine Ingram is a compelling force in the western spiritual arena. She is a renowned Dharma teacher. Since 1992 she has led Dharma Dialogues, which are public events of inquiry into the nature of Awakened Awareness and its benefits in life. She also leads numerous Silence Retreats each year and is the founder- president of LIVING DHARMA, and educational organization dedicated to spiritual inquiry and service. She is also the author of In the Footsteps of Gandhi: Conversations with Spiritual / Social Activists (1990). Her writing clearly flows out of her realization.- Editor.

In the deepest recesses of ourselves there is most familiar quietude. It has been through all our seeking and craving, as well as all the other events of our lives. It is a point of peace, a silent witnessing awareness that is fundamentally unperturbed no matter what happens. Stepping in this awareness, one is at ease in the present, fully welcoming what comes and fully releasing what goes, feeling alive throughout. This awareness is not something far away and in another time. It is already occurring here and right now. For instance, while watching a movie, we may swirl in a sea of emotions - fearful, romantic, humorous or tragic. If the story is especially potent, we might feel all these emotions in a single film. Yet no matter how swept away we might be by the movie or how gripped by emotions of the experience, there is within us a quiet witnessing awareness that knows perfectly well that we are sitting in a theatre all the while. If that were not so, we would surely flee the room as soon as any frightening situation occurred on the screen.

We would run for our lives upon seeing the first weapon or firestorms coming at us, were it not for some part of our awareness knowing that the visions on the screen are not our fundamental reality. In a similar way, there is a field of silent awareness containing all the events of our days. Although we may sometimes be gripped by emotion or lost in a particular story, there is throughout each of our dramas a deeper reality of silent presence. 

This is a silence of the heart rather than an imposed cessation of speech or activity. It is a silence that is, we could say, the background of all activity. We don't need to find it because it is not lost. If this is so, why is there so much searching and craving? Seeking is compelling because it produces a way for the mind to have a job. It seems that we are almost genetically programmed toward restless mental occupation with desire and avoidance, a desperate squirming out of now. Perhaps nature has demanded that we keep on the move in order to stay alive, but this is becoming detrimental to life. We have evolutionarily outgrown the usefulness of being in a prevailing state of fear and greed in order to compete and survive. We can no longer afford it. It is driving us to disaster. Nevertheless, it is strange how much we resist the inherent peace and quiet that is always possible. Perhaps this is because resting in simple presence is so foreign to a lifelong habit of mental complication, and we may have confused complication with sense of aliveness. We might assume that having no particular mental object would result in boredom. Or we may be overwhelmed by how vast and free life suddenly feels when our minds are not on the hunt. 

As the prisoner who, upon being released, quickly finds a way to land himself back in jail, or the bird who resists the flight out when its cage door is opened, we are sometimes daunted by freedom and retreat into cramped but familiar closet of a busy mind. Yet in the awakened awareness the mind acclimates itself into an expansion in silence. It gets used to letting neurotic thoughts drift and fade into nothingness, and it gradually loses interest in them even as they continue to arise. 
Disinterest in neurotic thoughts limits their power. What becomes interesting is the open expanse of awareness through which all thoughts and everything else emerge and dissolve. And because this is ongoing, the perception of it can sneak up on you at any moment.(Continue)

Thanks GOD, Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma

Pujya Gurudev Pt. ShriRam Sharma’s Kripa

Delight 

(Akhand Jyoti,Sept.oct.2006)

In awakened awareness, seeing beauty results from ones perception and not necessarily from the thing perceived. What we often describe as beautiful is merely a conditioned interpretation that is trained to see one thing as beautiful and another as revolting. Awakened awareness, however, overrides this conditioning and is able to see beauty in the most unlikely of places because it sees the universal essence of things. Some years ago I was in India to visit my teacher- Poonjaji, when a dramatic shift in my perception occurred. I had become, over many trips during the previous twenty years, more and more allergic to India. By that I mean I had developed such revulsion for the sights, smells, and sounds that accost ones senses every day that I went around with a slight feeling of nausea. Nevertheless, India continued to draw me because of its rich spiritual heritage and the great teachers who lived there. 

I also enjoyed being occasionally unplugged from the hectic pace of Western life. But I had long ago lost all romantic notions about much of India and instead noticed its disease, pollution, poverty, and superstition. It seemed after a while that my eye fell upon ugliness at nearly every turn. Being with Poonjaji changed all that. I began to sense the presence of the life force in myself and, soon, in everything around me. While I was showering one day, the bath tiles came alive as I imagined, could almost feel, their subatomic particles swirling within. When walking, I no longer experienced myself as a separate body but as a movement in and through an all-encompassing landscape. 

This perception in turn produced feelings of warmth and appreciation for every strange, wonderful, or ordinary thing I chanced upon. Now, wherever my eye landed, my heart was lit up by the indwelling presence it recognized there. The wart hogs eating garbage on the side of the road became beautiful to me because I could feel my own essence in them. They and I, embodying different forms, were just part of the unbounded panorama of existence. In Zen they say, "When you wake up, the whole world wakes up". Ones awakened awareness recognizes its own nature in everything, seeing its source as the source of all.

One then perceives in love and wholeness, experiencing beauty not merely in certain objects, people or places, but as awakened heart intelligence at one with the world. So often our definition and appreciation of beauty comes from limited awareness. Sure, we can see beauty in the creamy pink cheeks and shining eyes of a child, in the purple and red glow of sunrise over a snowy field, or in the languid grace of a gorgeous woman. Identifying these as beautiful requires no special intelligence. Our genes and cultural conditioning do that work for us. We easily respond to typical triggers of instinct and what we have been taught to define as beauty.

Thanks GOD, Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma

Pujya Gurudev ShriRam Sharma’s Kripa

Let Creative Potentials Materialize Fully

(Akhand Jyoti,Nov.Dec.2006)

Art of Living - 5 Manase chetase dhiya akutaya uta chittaye Matyai shrutaya chakshase vidhema havisha vayam. -Atharvaveda 6/41/1 

We worship by havi (altar offerings) for the power of reflection (mental inspirations and emotions), for consciousness and contemplation, for spiritual intellect (concentration), for inner resolves (miscellaneous stimuli), for intelligence, for powers of memory, hearing (learning), and sight (manifestation). Mental consciousness is the source of all creative potentials. In the fertile soil of mind sprout forth various kinds of creative urges. With proper nurturing and nourishment they grow to maturity and make a very impressive impact in the arena of practical life. Such persons are honored by the world as geniuses. 

They not only bring laurels to themselves but the whole world benefits from their invaluable contributions. It is this secret that lies behind the extra-ordinary talent of those luminaries whose amazing stories we keep reading in the annals of human civilization. Music, painting, dance, drama, architecture, sculpture, sports, management, researches - all these are multi-dimensional expressions of human creativity. No form of these expressions is inferior to or lesser than the others; it is simply a matter of priority, skill and distinction. Talent develops any of the creative potentials to a high level. It is the source of all the glories and possessions of the world. 

Wealth, honor, power, fame, everything flows from this fountainhead of talent. Its absence begets only endless tumbles, rejections and slights. Everyone wants to cultivate proximity to the meritorious, while the meritless is shunned by all. Those who have been able to develop their latent creative potentials are like shining stars in the human firmament. Their extraordinary achievements and glory act as beacons of inspiration for others. People longingly gaze at these luminaries, quite oblivious of the fact that many such potential stars are hidden in their own interiors too. 

Only, their brightness has to be brought to the fore. Then they, too, can sparkle and shower their illumination on the world. For this only the potential lying within has to be developed and awakened. But how? "I have nothing like this in me", "I do not see any distinction in me" - One often comes across negative refrains of this type. Such persons are advised to look within once again a little more minutely and deeply, and also objectively.

Thanks GOD, Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma

Serve Man As God

Pujya Gurudev Pt. ShriRam Sharma;s Kripa

Serve Man As God

(Akhand Jyoti, Nov.Dec.2006)

The only way of getting our divine nature manifested is by helping others to do the same. If there is inequality in nature, still there must be equal chance for all - or if greater for some and for some less - the weaker should be given more chance than the strong. In other words, a Brahmana is not so much in need of education as a Chandala. If the son of a Brahmana needs one teacher, that of a Chandala needs ten. For greater help must be given to him whom nature has not endowed with an acute intellect from birth. It is a madman who carries coals to Newcastle. The poor, the downtrodden, the ignorant - let these be your god. 

This is the gist of all worship - to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Siva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Siva; and if he sees Siva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. The life of Buddha shows that even a man who has no metaphysics, belongs to no sect, and does not go to any church, or temple, and is a confessed materialist, even he can attain to the highest. ...He was the only man who was ever ready to give up his life for animals, to stop a sacrifice. He once said to a king: ’If the sacrifice of a lamb helps you to go to heaven, sacrificing a man will help you better; so sacrifice me. 

The king was astonished. ’The good live for others alone. The wise man should sacrifice himself for others.’ I can secure my own good only by doing your good. There is no other way, none whatsoever. Go from village to village; do good to humanity and to the world at large. Go to hell yourself to buy salvation for others... ’When death is so certain, it is better to die for a good cause.’ Throughout the history of the world, you find great men make great sacrifices and the mass of mankind enjoy the benefit. If you want to give up everything for your own salvation, it is nothing. Do you want to forgo even your own salvation for the good of the world? You are God, think of that.       .Swami Vivekananda

Thanks GOD, Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma

reflected images : Pujya Gurudev

Pujya Gurudev Pt. ShriRam Sharma Acharya,s Kripa

We hear our own echoes and see our own reflected images

(Akhand Jyoti,Nov.Dec.2003)

Happiness is normally sought in worldly objects, relationships, incidents and circumstances. Such a search is misplaced.Had this been true, people who possessed ample resources and who did not have to face any adversities, should have been always happy and satisfied. On the other hand, people who are poor and who are living against heavy odds should all have been unhappy. Happiness is an attitude of mind, which is determined by a person’s viewpoint towards life. 

A person endowed with true humility has an attitude of glad acceptance of all that life brings to him; and this is what self-refinement and self-transcendence mean. More a person cultivates this attribute, happier he will be. 
One who has the habit of faultfinding, negativity and seeing evil in others will remain a captive of this self-destructive attitude regardless of favorable circumstances as for as outer life is concerned. It is like dirtying one’s own clothes by himself throwing mud on them. On the other hand, mind can definitely be so trained as to see the good, even though covered, in all persons and situations. It is one’s own echo that is returned by the dome. 

A ball thrown against the wall rebounds to the place from where it was thrown. It is one’s own personality that is reflected by others and gives pleasant or unpleasant impressions accordingly. That is why this world has been given the analogy of a mirror. The mirror honestly reflects the image of the view.

Thanks GOD, Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma

Marriage Rites : Pujya Gurudev

Pujya Gurudev Pt. ShriRam Sharma;s Kripa

Strange and Peculiar Marriage Rites

(Akhand Jyoti,Nov.Dec.2005)

The institution of marriage forms the nucleus of social order. All social customs, rituals, and conventions are built around it. Different types of marriage practices are prevalent in different parts of our country. In other countries of the world, too, many novel marriage customs exist, still surviving in one form or the other, among other aborigines and tribes. Many of these practices are really very interesting and unique. These marriages take different names and forms in different parts of our country: for example, birhare and paithu in Bihar, golag-dhero among Gujarati Bhils, ghotul in the sonds of Bastar and so on. In the paithu custom, the position of girls is dominant; they forcibly start residing, even before marriage, in the house of whichever boy they like. 

Marriage follows later. In the golag-dhero practice of Gujarat a swayamvar is organized on holi. Some gur and coconut is tied to the top of a pole. Around this pole dance all the women and girls of the village forming a circle and the men folk, too, in an outer circle. In this competition, winner is the man who is able to break through the inner cordon of women and take out the gur and coconut. He gets the privilege of choosing any of the women present as his wife. But to reach the pole is a tough job. 

The women do everything possible to foil him. Beating with brooms, pulling hair, throwing stones, even biting  all are resorted to. In the Motia tribe of north Garhwal and Kumaon districts boys have full freedom to select their life partner. When the barat reaches the brides place the groom attempts to take away the bride in a doli (palanquin) even before performing any rite. There ensues a mock fight between the two sides. 

The brides side is defeated and bidai (farewell to the bride) takes place. After a week or so, the two sides reach a compromise, which is followed by a feast and singing and dancing. In the districts of Mymensinh, Gwalpara and Kamrup of Bengal and Assam the goro tribals are known as head  hunters. Theirs is a matrilineal system. 

The search for a groom ends in selection of the boy whose garland has the maximum number of skulls and who gives the most ferocious look. In the Khas tribe of Jaunsar Bawar of western U. P., the marriage rites in themselves are not as strange as their beliefs. The most unusual feature is the existence of polyandry. 
After the marriage of one brother, his wife is deemed to be the wife of other brothers, too. This system is called Draupadi  Vivah. Draupadi is worshipped as a deity by the women here. The marriage is celebrated by free flow of liquor and other intoxicants. Matching horoscopes is a common practice in Hindu families. But the custom takes a very odd form in the Khog community residing in Northeast frontier areas of our country. In this community, the grooms father searches for a bride. After the marriage has been fixed the groom and brides sides arrive with a cock and hen respectively before a gathering of the elders and other respected members of the community. The priest cuts the tongues of the two birds and tallies them. If the signs match, the marriage is considered auspicious and is approved. Other rites are in the community tradition.

Thanks GOD, Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma