Thursday, March 25, 2010

Acceptance

We, at least in our current way of living, can do any activity only after our acceptance. Exceptions may be the activities of brain that doesn’t require our thoughts, like breathing. On the other hand, any activities coming out of our thoughts should necessarily have our acceptance – It may be our willful acceptance or forced acceptance. If there is a need for acceptance, obviously there are options to accept and reject. If there are no options available, then the only possibility is getting into action. In such cases, there is no question of acceptance. It is possible to reach such a state only when we are out of the field of thought. Until then, if we say there is no option, it is just an escape from our inaction – the truth is that we accepted the wrong option.
Options are available only when we attach qualities with the subject of identification and then apply comparison into the subjects. As noted in the previous discussion, quality is required for identification and it is basically our knowledge about subject. When we attach ourselves with the qualities we identify or our knowledge, comparison is unavoidable. Comparison differentiates subjects. On the other hand, comparison is a differentiator.

Comparison is inevitable as long as we are bonded with our knowledge about the subject. When we are not sufficiently free from our knowledge, we look into any subject with our bondage with our own knowledge – In such cases, we perceive the subject as a projection of what we already know about that subject. We can never be able to perceive the true nature of that subject. Almost every one of us views the subject with our own bondage with our own knowledge. Hence each one of us perceives the subject as extension of our own knowledge – but not the true nature of that subject. Hence argument on any subject is utter childishness and shows off our immaturity. Does it mean, there is no discussion required on any subject? This is not the message conveyed here! Discussion is required to the extent to help all the parties involved to be able to perceive another dimension of the subject. It is possible only when we understand that we are bonded with our knowledge. In such a discussion, there is neither any acceptance nor any rejection. There is only another dimension of understanding!

How to be free from our knowledge? It appears to me that freedom from knowledge is possible only by acquiring knowledge. Freedom from knowledge is possible only with our inquisitiveness. If we never ask the basic questions to ourselves, which can shatter our beliefs, we can never obtain freedom from our own knowledge. The bondage with our knowledge is not just the bondage we ourselves created. It is a bondage created and preserved by our ancestors for so many thousands of years transmitted to us genetically along with the bondage created by our grandparents, parents and we ourselves. Hence it is natural that it needs a great effort from us to break this bondage.

If our ancestors preserved that bondage, why should we break it? Only our understanding and knowledge can answer this question. This is where we need knowledge! We need knowledge to understand the need for attaining freedom from our own knowledge. We can acquire this knowledge only by questioning ourselves. Neither our current education system teaches us such questioning ability nor our environment encourages us to obtain such capability. Hence, it may be a great challenge to acquire such questioning ability. But it is a possibility available to every one of us – It depends on our acceptance of which of the multiple options available to us. It depends on our willingness to transcend the field of acceptance, our willingness to transcend the field of choices, willingness to transcend the field of comparison, willingness transcend the field of our own knowledge. And more importantly, our uncompromised desire to enter into the field of limitless joy.

When we understand very clearly that our acceptance at various levels for various options available to us until now, is the basic reason for what we are now, we will be free from all our qualities - jealous, pride, self-centeredness, anger, desires, etc. We are the qualities we acquired through out our life. When our qualities are dissolved, we ourselves are dissolved. What an easy way to leave the cycle of life! What a series of complications we added into that easy path!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Quality

We attach qualities to each and every thing we see and then use that quality to identify any subject. Without quality, identification of any sort is not possible. The physical identification of anything is through our basic senses and the brain attaches the quality required for identification. As soon as the brain senses something through sense organs, it compares the sensed subject and finds at least a quality from memory to attach with subject. For the brain to attach a quality with any subject, it must have previous knowledge about certain qualities of that subject. If there is no previous knowledge of the quality of subject under observation, the brain cannot identify or perceive that object. This may be one of very basic understandings which are required for anyone wishing to travel in the path of intelligence into the field of spirituality. For understanding this, we need to have some understanding about knowledge also.

Now the basic question arises out of this is that what is our knowledge about qualities? Are there any absolute qualities which everyone knows exactly the same way? These may be very difficult questions to answer. But one can find the answer oneself, provided probe this questions with certain openness, with the understanding that our knowledge itself is derived from what we already knows and what we will find out will also be derived from what we are already knowing. Unless we understand this and sufficiently free from our knowledge, the finding will just be a projection of what we already know and viewing multiple dimensions is not at all possible.

We never question about our knowledge. We never probe how we attained that knowledge. We always consider our knowledge as final. We never realize that what we knew or what we will know is the continuation of what we already knew. If we do not know anything at all now, there is absolutely no possibility of any knowledge in future. On the other hand, if at all we know anything absolute, then only there is a possibility of absolute knowledge. On the other hand, knowledge is continuous. Now, we starts identify ourselves with the knowledge we acquired. Once this starts happening, we will have deep attachment with what we know and look into anything else within the constraints of that attachment. We look into anything with in the field of our knowledge. Unless we break this attachment with the knowledge we acquired, there is absolutely no possibility of learning or perceiving totally new. If we really understand this to the core of our being, the very quality of ourselves will change completely. It may not be a change which others can observe, but a clear change within ourselves, which entirely changes the way we live our life.

So, the quality we attach with any subject to identify that subject entirely depends on our knowledge. The subject under observation may be physical object or certain ideas or philosophies or Guru or God…. or any other thing which our thought can conceive. There is a concept called “Freedom from Known” or “Freedom from Knowledge”. This has been put forwarded by J. Krishnamurti in a raw and blunt manner, even though it was available in certain ancient Indian philosophies. When we are attached to our knowledge, we always stick to what we know. We refuse to see the subject from another perspective. With that knowledge, we are in certain egoistic state which will not allow us to see the subject from another perspective. The same objects have as many numbers of perspectives as the number of persons viewing that subject. And even for a very simple physical subject, this is true. One may see the color of that subject, another one size, another one physical composition, and another one may be chemical composition and so on and so on. As long as we refuse to see the same object free from the knowledge we have about that subject, another perspective of that subject is not possible.

Hence there may not be anything called quality. It may be just our perspective of the subject. If we are attached to our knowledge, we will be having limited perspective of the subject. As we gain freedom from our own knowledge, there is a possibility of looking into the object from another perspective or probably during each instant of observation of that subject the observation may be with a new perspective. When we are free from our knowledge about the subject, we may be seeing many, many perspectives of the same object. When we are free from all our knowledge, everything in the existence may be perceived with unlimited perspectives which may be the height of ecstasy.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Entertainment

We reached a stage where we cannot think of our life without heavy dosage of entertainment. One of the dictionary meanings of entertainment is “agreeable occupation for the mind”. Our mind doesn’t likes to die away. It has to always have some occupation. With out occupation, it will cease to exist. But we never asked the question, what is mind? What are its functions? How the functions of minds are initiated? We never bothered for such questions. With out even attempted for knowing how we are functioning, we find great pride on calling ourselves as educated.

Entertainment is a major business. Even if we can live without entertainment, our economy may not be able to sustain without the business of entertainment and its supplements at its current way of functioning. If we can look a bit deeply, we see the major component of our life requirement which overuse the resources of earth is the entertainment component. When we make enormous noise about global warming, deforestation, etc, we must also understand how far we are responsible for such things by the name of our own entertainment. Due to the way we lived our life until now, it is very natural that we see only a fragment of any problem, especially when we are also a cause of that problem.

If we look into our life, almost 99% of our available time is spent on either work or entertainment. We call this as living. Even for the work, probably more than 30% of the population works for entertainment and related industry. On the other hand work is for entertainment and then remaining time spent on entertainment. What a contradiction (??).

One of the functions of brain which keeps us engaged is the function of perception. The entire creation is available within us to be perceived. But unfortunately, due to our inattention, we lost the capability of such perception. On the other hand, the quality of perception of our brain is dampened by our inattention to happenings within us. Hence we are forced to keep our brain active with respect to perception with external activities. We have made all our essential activities of our life as routine activities. When the brain performs routine activities, we lose our attention and hence the perception of activity being performed. Now we need some other activity, which is not routine, hence entertainment – We are badly in need of entertainment due to our complete inattention. Our need for entertainment is just due to our inattention to happenings within us and around us. We are over consuming the resources of earth just for our entertainment and then make noise for global warming, deforestation, etc. Are we culprits or victims? We are the culprits for our inattention and we are victims of our own inattention. When we ourselves are the culprits, are there any sense in making such noises as global warming and deforestation? Without making any attempt to eliminate the inattention which is the root cause of all these global warming and trying to plant few trees here and there make any real sense? Are we hiding our responsibility of being attentive by making some noise about global warming and planning some trees here and there and still continue to overuse the resources of earth for our own entertainment?

The above discussion does not suggest that one should not look for any entertainment or against taking mitigation activities such as planting trees. If one does such mistake, the mind will become totally dump and dull – we need entertainment at our current level of maturity and current way of living. But entertainment alone is not living – the purpose of living is not just entertainment. One should transcend entertainment, if looking for truth or the real nature of existence or even the purpose of our life. It is possible only if we understand our urge for entertainment and its real function in our life.