Thursday, August 17, 2017

The Flute's lamentation

“Hear ye, how the flute wails, lamenting the separation from the reed - bed” said Rumi in the Masnavi. This is the tale of mankind. The ego it seems has severed the connection to the divine within, and men lament in manifold ways this painful separation. All ailments and ills of the society are due to this ever drifting divide between man and his maker. 

I wonder if at any moment one looks at the situation around him and finds that it is not acceptable, then the ensuing emotions like anger, frustration, sadness, greed etc are all due to this separateness from the beloved.


If one knows that there is a cosmic design behind everything and I am being guided by that design and I need it’s support and not the other way around, half our problems will go away. Then we will work and take action from a position of strength and not weakness. When the mind feels overwhelmed by events and the ego steps in and says “I must do something or the whole village, country, nation, universe will burn…” This is an illusion. Often the most extraordinary miracles have saved us from calamities. A sincere prayer at the shrine of the Sadguru has always ensured success. When we have the most powerful almighty who rules the entire creation within our hearts, why worry? First we should not get perturbed by events, but look at them calmly and then if we can change anything we should try to, else we should cling to the feet of the Sadguru and request his aid, which will unerringly take us in the right direction as it always does!

Thursday, July 27, 2017

On Tyrants and their devotees!

Today I had a discussion with a  Christian friend about how there is no right or wrong but thinking makes it so. My friend jumped at the opportunity and went on harping about how, Constantine is the most misunderstood Emperor of all time. He said, Constantine’s mother was most religious, and Constantine realised that he can use this as a tool to ‘unify’ his kingdom and strengthen his rule. He figured if everyone believed in the Son of God, his rule would be unquestioned. And my friend said to do this Constantine had to slaughter all the pagans and those who did not believe in Christianity. My friend went on to say that he would not be a Christian, had Constantine not slaughtered those who did not share his beliefs and ambitions.

It got me thinking, Sapiens as a species have been known to unify under  collective Imaginary story (Be it religion or political ideology) . Would others who belong to dogmas spread by violence be grateful to tyrants raped, looted, plundered and pillaged their home town. A person belonging to such a dogma might think had his forefathers not been murdered and their wives and children taken as slaves, the person may not belong to such and such a dogma. And hence he would be grateful to the very tyrant who tortured his ancestors who share his very DNA.

How cruel a fate is in store for this human kind. At least in Vedanta, during the era of Adi Shankara, there were Buddhists, Jains, Mimamsakas, Charvaakas etc living side by side. There would be debates and discussions, however there never was any slaughter. Now I am surprised that something built on such peaceful and benign intentions which recognises the inherent differences in human thought and recognises different lines of thought is much chastised whereas if the followers of other dogma indulged in such heinous acts, they are recognised as heroes. 

My friend also said, he would not understand what was said when a priest in a Hindu temple would pray to God on your behalf. He said to him, Christ has said there is no intermediary. 

Contrary to his thought, in Vedanta, there is no intermediary. There is no prophet divining the word of God. There is no single or multiple set of men who dictate what is right and what is wrong. Vedanta never says do this or do that. On the contrary it says find out the truth by yourself. Experience the reality of Brahman by your own grit.Unfortunately ignorance is what pushes people to violent dogma and makes them feel any kind of atrocities performed on fellow children of God is justifiable so everyone can come to their level of thought.

If I see someone performing better than me, my natural inclination is to misunderstand him and to bring him to my level, so I (The ego) am not destroyed. 

This was the thought of Tyrants, and this is the thought process of those who follow them blindly and are grateful to them.

My friend said if you speak to someone from your religion then you feel you both are speaking the same language. On introspection I felt he could not be more wrong! Fortunately for me, Baba has taught me the language of all Human Beings. And while I could decipher what my friend was talking about, I doubt he will ever be able to listen to the stillness inherent in all of creation. The noise of religious dogma is very tumultuous and if that be the case, how can one learn to revel in the divine stillness within?


Fear

Why pray, do you fear?  Why do your limbs shudder?  Do you fear losing something or someone? Do you fear temporal and spatial se...