Shanmugam

@egoless How is it possible? If something can be observed by you, that cannot be you... But don't solidify this into a concept.. This logic is only used an as approach or an aid.. When you try to do mindfulness, you have to go ahead with the premise that whatever is observed by you is not you.. But you don't have to make it as a concept and wonder if you have to believe it or not.. You still can define 'you' as a collection of the aggregates such as your body, your thoughts etc for the sake of communication. But it is only for the sake of communication. The word 'you' can be still used as a point of reference. But a point of reference doesn't have any more reality to it than being just a point of reference. The problem arises only when this 'you' gets more importance than it deserves.. That is why people suffer.

@egoless Don't try to look for pure awareness... You can never find it as an object because that is the subject itself.. Everything is happening in the field of consciousness, which is the subject.. The problem doesn't arise when you keep witnessing the thoughts... It only arises when try to do something, like contemplation of concepts such as nothingness and awareness... When it happens, witness the thought that contemplates.. Just observe those thoughts as they occur with full attention. Once you try to contemplate on such concepts, you are moving away from being a witness. Your consciousness is like the sky and thoughts are like clouds.. Witness the contents of your consciousness just like witnessing the moving clouds.. When a thought such as 'is this nothingness? how can I find nothingness' arises, it is also a thought, it is also like a cloud in the sky of consciousness. Recognize that thought for what it is, witness that thought passing by and be curious about what your next thought is going to be.

thats good.. If living in the moment helps you in some way, that itself should give you the reason to go ahead with the practice.. Gradually, the compulsive thinking will stop.

@egoless Ok.. If you are satisfied with such a verbal answer, then there shouldn't be any problem... Just go ahead and live your life as usual, why bother about spirituality at all? Self-inquiry is not meant to produce any verbal answers.. It is termed as self-inquiry because of the investigation that you do with what you call as 'I'.. And the need for such an investigation arises only when what you think as 'you' bothers you too much and makes you suffer. But if you haven't seen the futilely of protecting, enhancing and fulfilling this egoic identity, then it is better to not to worry about spirituality. If you are already happy and satisfied, then why bother with spiritual practice at all? Let me ask you, what is your motivation behind doing what Eckhart Tolle asks you to do?

@egoless You are asking 'who' has the free will... That is exactly what you have to inquire.. You can try to find out 'who' the agent is, the agent who thinks he has the free will. This inquiry is called 'self-inquiry'.. But instead of doing it as an inquiry, try to do it by witnessing the mind. It is easy and works better than any other approach for many people. And there is no belief in anything that is required.. Observing your mind, non-judgmentally doesn't require any beliefs..You just need to have an attitude of a scientist who observes anything objectively. When you look at the contents of your mind, you also have to approach them objectively, because anything that can be observed cannot be you; since you are the one who is observing it. Also, don't try to analyze the thoughts, just observe them with a curiosity to know what the mind does. And this non-judgemental, alert observation is also called as 'mindfulness', which has received great clinical and scientific attention. If you speculate on concepts such as 'free will', 'ego' etc, you may not get anywhere...But if you are skeptical about this whole spirituality thing, I would suggest you to read 'Waking up' by Sam Harris. Here is my article on Science and enlightenment which you may find useful: https://nellaishanmugam.wordpress.com/2017/06/13/is-there-a-scientific-evidence-for-spiritual-enlightenment/

The split is not between a higher being and a lower being... The split is between being and non-being, i.e the permanent witness and the impermanent world of thoughts, feelings etc. And this split is a lot better than dealing with thousands of conflicting thoughts and intentions as an egoic self. Rather than calling it as a split, which has negative connotation, think of it as discrimination. The word 'discrimination' is the right word here.. The free will is still there.. The free will is not going to be lost, but the one who thinks he has the 'free will' will be lost... But there will be a hesitation, because for ego it may seem that its power is being taken away from it. That is exactly what is supposed to happen. If you want to become free, want to get rid of suffering, then this is the way to go about it.

@egoless You don't have to identify with your mind when you do analytical work or when you talk.. Your conversation can automatically arise out of the presence, without any identification, once your identification with your mind falls off.. You can still use your mind and not get identified with its contents.. Also, your mind is already split and there are lots of conflicts. Differentiating pure witness from the thoughts is initially necessary, which will help in bringing detachment.. That is how any spiritual process can start, no other way. At one point, even this distinction between witness and the witnessed will disappear. (but it may take many years). That is when you will truly start feeling the oneness. Normally, a person feels one with his thoughts because of identification. But this is not the oneness of non-duality. It is the sense of a separate self which creates duality. It claims ownership for certain things and regards the rest of things as different.. But when the sense of a separate self dissolves, there is no ownership or the sense of a doer or an agent. Since there is no distinction of a 'me' and the 'other' after liberation, your perception of reality becomes non-dual.

@egoless Rather than focusing on the present moment, try to be a witness of the thought process.. As Eckhart says, listen to the voice in your head without any judgement, as if the thought process has got nothing to do with you.. I am not sure how effective trying to focus on present moment is, but being a non-judgemental witness definitely works.. And don't try to concentrate or suppress your thought process.. Because the main objective here is to get to know your mind, observe your mind as it is; this means you have to accept everything that arises in your mind as natural. First, try to do it during the hours when you are not working.. You can try be a witness of your mind when you are taking bath, going for a walk, eating etc. Then you can extend it to your working hours, but only during those times when you don't have to use your mind. You have to use your mind and thoughts actively when you have to use them, just like using our hands when it is necessary. It is the involuntary, uncontrollable thought process which is the problem.

Cause of Suffering WE VERY OFTEN FEEL THAT WE CREATE OUR OWN SUFFERINGS. IN SPITE OF THIS, WHY DO WE CONTINUE CREATING THEM? AND WHEN AND HOW DOES ONE STOP CREATING ONE'S OWN SUFFERING? The first thing, and very basic to be understood, is that whenever you say WE VERY OFTEN FEEL THAT WE CREATE OUR OWN SUFFERING, this is not the case. You never really feel that you are the creator of your own suffering. You may think so, because you have been taught so; because for centuries and centuries teachers have been teaching that you are the creator of your own suffering and no one else is responsible. You have heard these things, you have read these things. They have become your blood and bone, they have become your unconscious conditionings, so sometimes you repeat like a parrot WE CREATE OUR OWN SUFFERING. But this is not your feeling, this is not your realization, because if you realize it, then the other thing is impossible. Then you cannot say, IN SPITE OF THIS, WHY DO WE CONTINUE CREATING IT? If you really feel, and if it is your own feeling that you are the creator of your own suffering, any moment you can stop -- unless you want to create it, unless you enjoy it, unless you are a masochist. Then everything is okay, then there is no question. If you say, `I enjoy my suffering,' then it is okay; you can go on creating it. But if you say, `I suffer and I want to go beyond it. I want to stop it completely -- and I understand that I am the creator,' then you are wrong. You don't understand it. Socrates is reported to have said that knowledge is virtue. And there has been a long discussion for these two thousand years over whether Socrates is right or wrong -- knowledge is virtue. Socrates says that once you know something, you cannot do contrary to it. If you know that anger is suffering, you cannot be angry. This is what Socrates means -- knowledge is virtue. You cannot say, `I know anger is bad; still I move in it. What to do about it now?' Socrates says that the first thing is wrong. You don't know that anger is bad; that's why you go on moving in it. If you know, you cannot move in it. How can you move against your own knowledge? I know that if I put my hand in the fire it is going to be painful. If I know, I cannot put my hand in. But if somebody else has told me, if I have heard through the tradition, if I have read in the scriptures that fire burns, and I have not known fire, and I have not known any similar experience, only then can I put my hand into fire -- and that too only once. Can you conceive it? That you have put your hand into fire and you have been burned and you have suffered, and again you go and ask, `I know that fire burns, but in spite of it I go on putting my hand into the fire. What to do about it?' Who will believe that you know? And what type of knowledge is this? If your own experience of suffering and burning cannot stop you, nothing is going to stop you. Now there is no possibility, because the last possibility has been missed. But no one can miss it; that is impossible. Socrates is right, and all those who have know, they will agree with Socrates -- that agreement has a very deep point in it. Once you know.... But remember -- the knowledge must be yours. A borrowed knowledge won't do; borrowed knowledge is useless. Unless it is your own experience, it is not going to change you. Others' experiences are of no help. You have heard that you are the creator of your own suffering, but this is just in the mind. It has not entered your being, it is not your own knowledge. So when you are discussing, you can discuss about it cerebrally, but when the actual phenomenon happens, you will forget, and you will behave in the way you know, not in the way others know. When you are at ease, cool, collected, silently discussing anger, you can say it is poison, it is a disease, evil. But when someone makes you angry then a complete change occurs. Not it is not an intellectual discussion, now you are involved. And the moment you are involved, you become angry. Later on again, retrospectively, when you again get cool, the memory will come back, your mind will again start functioning, and you will say, `That was wrong. It was not good of me to do that. I know anger is wrong.' Who is this `I'? -- just intellect, just the superficial mind. You don't know -- because when someone pushes you into anger, you throw this mind away. It is useful as far as discussion is concerned, but when a real situation arises, only the real knowledge will help. When there is no situation, you can go on. Even in a discussion the real situation can arise. The other can go on contradicting you so much that you become angry and then you will forget. Real knowledge means that which has happened to you. You have not heard about it, not read about it, you have not collected information about it -- it is your own experience. And then there is no question, because after that you cannot go against it. Not that you will have to make an effort not to go against it; simply you cannot go against it. How can I? When I know this is a wall and I want to go out of this room, how can I try to pass through the wall? I know this is a wall, so I will search for the door. Only a blink man will try to go out through the wall. I have got eyes. I see what is a wall and what is a door. But if I try to enter the wall and tell you, `I know very well where the door is, and I know this to be a wall, but in spite of this, how can I stop myself from trying to enter the wall?' then that means that as far as I am concerned that door looks false. Others have told me that it is the door, but as far as I am concerned, I know that door is false. And others have told me that this is a wall, but as far as I see, I see the door here in this wall, and that is why I try. In this situation you have to make a clearcut distinction between what you know and what you have gathered as knowledge. Don't rely on information. From the greatest source -- even if you collect from the greatest source -- information is information. Even if a Buddha says it to you, it is not your own, and it is not going to help you in any way. But you can remain thinking that it is your knowledge, and this misunderstanding will waste your energy, time and life. The basic thing is not to ask what to do so that suffering is not created. The basic thing is to know that you are the creator of your suffering. Next time whenever a real situation arises and you are in suffering, remember to find out whether you are the cause of it. And if you can find out that you are the cause of it, the suffering will disappear, and the same suffering will not appear again -- impossible. But don't deceive yourself. You can -- that's why I say it. When you are suffering you can say, `Yes, I know I have created this suffering,' but deep down you know that someone else has created it. Your wife has created it, your husband has created it, someone else has created it, and this is simply a consolation because you cannot do anything. You console yourself: `No one has created it, I have created it myself, and by and by I will stop it.' But knowledge is instant transformation; there is no `by and by.' If you understand that you have created it, it will drop immediately. And it is not going to come up again. If it comes again, it means the understanding has not gone deep. So there is no need to find out what to do, and how to stop. The only need is to go deep and to find out who is really the cause of it. If others are the cause then it cannot be stopped, because you cannot change the whole world. If you are the cause, only then can it be stopped. That's why I insist that only religion can lead humanity towards non-suffering. Nothing else can lead, because everyone else believes that the suffering is caused by others; only religion says that suffering is caused by you. So religion makes you the master of your destiny. You are the cause of your suffering, hence you can be the cause of your bliss. - Osho - The Book of Secrets, discourses on Vigyan Bhairav Tantra

Meditation Is Non-doing When people come to me and they ask, "How to meditate?" I tell them, "There is no need to ask how to meditate, just ask how to remain unoccupied. Meditation happens spontaneously. Just ask how to remain unoccupied, that's all. That's the whole trick of meditation - how to remain unoccupied. Then you cannot do anything. The meditation will flower. When you are not doing anything the energy moves towards the center, it settles down towards the center. When you are doing something the energy moves out. Doing is a way of moving out. Non-doing is a way of moving in. Occupation is an escape. You can read the Bible, you can make it an occupation. There is no difference between religious occupation and secular occupation: all occupations are occupations, and they help you to cling outside your being. They are excuses to remain outside. Man is ignorant and blind, and he wants to remain ignorant and blind, because to come inwards looks like entering a chaos. And it is so; inside you have created a chaos. You have to encounter it and go through it. Courage is needed - courage to be oneself, and courage to move inwards. I have not come across a greater courage than that - the courage to be meditative. But people who are engaged outside - with worldly things or nonworldly things, but occupied all the same, they think ....and they have created a rumor around it, they have their own philosophers. They say that if you are introvert you are somehow morbid, something is wrong with you. And they are in the majority. If you meditate, if you sit silently, they will joke about you: "What are you doing? - gazing at your navel? What are you doing? - opening the third eye? Where are you going? Are you morbid?...because what is there to do inside? There is nothing inside." Inside doesn't exist for the majority of people, only the outside exists. And just the opposite is the case - only inside is real; outside is nothing but a dream. But they call introverts morbid, they call meditators morbid. In the West they think that the East is little morbid. What is the point of sitting alone and looking inwards? What are you going to get there? There is nothing. David Hume, one of the great British philosophers, tried once... because he was studying the Upanishads and they go on saying: Go in, go in, go in - that is their only message. So he tried it. He closed his eyes one day - a totally secular man, very logical, empirical, but not meditative at all - he closed his eyes and he said, "It is so boring! It is a boredom to look in. Thoughts move, sometimes a few emotions, and they go on racing in the mind, and you go on looking at them - what is the point of it? It is useless. It has no utility." And this is the understanding of many people. Hume's standpoint is that of the majority: What are going to get inside? There is darkness, thoughts floating here and there. What will you do? What will come out of it? If Hume had waited a little longer - and that is difficult for such people - if he had been a little more patient, by and by thought disappear, emotions subside. But if it had happened to him he would have said, "That is even worse, because emptiness comes. At least first there were thoughts, something to be occupied with, to look at, to think about. Now even thoughts have disappeared; only emptiness....What to do with emptiness? It is absolutely useless." But if he had waited a little more, then darkness also disappears. It is just like when you come from the hot sun and you enter your house: everything looks dark because your eyes need a little attunement. They are fixed on the hot sun outside; comparatively, your house looks dark. You cannot see, you feel as if it is night. But you wait, you sit, you rest in a chair, and after few seconds the eyes get attuned. Now it is not dark, a little more light........You rest for an hour, and everything is light, there is no darkness at all. If Hume had waited a little longer, then darkness also disappears. Because you have lived in the hot sun outside for many lives your eyes have become fixed, they have lost flexibility. They need tuning. When one comes inside the house it takes a little while, a little time, a patience. Don't be in a hurry. In haste nobody can come to know himself. It is a very very deep awaiting. Infinite patience is needed. By and by darkness disappears. There comes a light with no source There is no flame in it, no lamp is burning, no sun is there. A light, just like it is morning: the night has disappeared, and the sun has not risen.... Or in the evening - the twilight, when the sun has set and night has not yet descended. That's why Hindus call their prayer time sandhya. Sandhya means twilight, light without any source. When you move inwards you will come to the light without any source. In that light, for the first time you start understanding yourself, who you are, because you are that light. You are that twilight, that sandhya, that pure clarity, that perception, where the observer and the observed disappear, and only the light remains. Osho - excerpts from the book What is Meditation?

Being with you I feel so blissful and liberated, and there seems to be no end to it. You must have tricked me. What is your secret? I am a simple man without any secret. I am just an open book, and a book in which nothing is written. If you like to call it a secret it is your choice, but it is a very open secret. If you want to be, learn the art of being: Not to be. Let me repeat it, because I know you are deaf. If you want really to be, the only way is to learn not to be. Disappear. Just as God disappears from existence, you have to disappear from your life. Let life flow of its own accord. It is the simplest art in the world, to be silent. It is not a doing, it is a non-doing. How can it be difficult? I am showing you the way of enlightenment through laziness. Nothing has to be done to attain it, because it is your nature. You have already got it. You are just so busy with outer business that you cannot see your own nature. Deep within you is exactly the same as outside you: the beauty, the silence, the ecstasy, the blissfulness. But please, sometimes be kind to yourself: just sit down and don’t do anything, either physically or mentally. Relax, not in an American way… because I have seen so many American books titled How to Relax. The very title says that the man knows nothing about relaxation. There is no “how.” Yes, it is okay – “How to Repair a Car”; you will have to do something. But there is no doing as such as far as relaxation is concerned. Just don’t do anything. I know you will find it a little difficult in the beginning. That is not because relaxation is difficult, it is because you have become addicted to doing something. That addiction will take a little time to disappear. Just be, and watch. Being is not doing, and watching is also not doing. You sit silently doing nothing, witnessing whatsoever is happening. Thoughts will be moving in your mind; your body may be feeling some tension somewhere, you may have a migraine. Just be a witness. Don’t be identified with it. Watch, be a watcher on the hills, and everything else is happening in the valley. It is a knack, not an art. Meditation is not a science. It is not an art, it is a knack – just that way. All that you need is a little patience. The old habits will continue; the thoughts will go on rushing. And your mind is always in a rush hour, the traffic is always jammed. Your body is not accustomed to sitting silently – you will be tossing and turning. Nothing to be worried about. Just watch that the body is tossing and turning, that the mind is whirling, is full of thoughts – consistent, inconsistent, useless – fantasies, dreams. You remain in the center, just watching. All the religions of the world have taught people to do something: stop the process of thought, force the body into a still posture. That’s what yoga is – a long practice of forcing the body to be still. But a forced body is not still. And all the prayers, concentrations, contemplations of all the religions do the same with the mind: they force it, they don’t allow the thoughts to move. Yes, you have the capacity to do it. And if you persist you may be able to stop the thought process. But this is not the real thing, it is absolutely fake. When stillness comes on its own, when silence descends without your effort, when you watch thoughts and a moment comes when thoughts start disappearing and silence starts happening, that is beautiful. The thoughts stop of their own accord if you don’t identify, if you remain a witness and you don’t say, “This is my thought.” You don’t say, “This is bad, this is good,” “This should be there….” and “This should not be there….” Then you are not a watcher; you have prejudices, you have certain attitudes. A watcher has no prejudice, he has no judgment. He simply sees like a mirror. When you bring something in front of a mirror it reflects, simply reflects. There is no judgment that the man is ugly, that the man is beautiful, that, “Aha! What a good nose you have got.” The mirror has nothing to say. Its nature is to mirror; it mirrors. This is what I call meditation: you simply mirror everything within or without. And I guarantee you…. I can guarantee because it has happened to me and to many of my people; just watching patiently – maybe a few days will pass, maybe a few months, maybe a few years. There is no way of saying because each individual has a different collection. You must have seen people collecting antiques, postal stamps. Everybody has a different collection; the quantity may be different, hence the time it takes will be different – but go on remaining a witness as much as you can. And this meditation needs no special time. You can wash the floor and remain silently watching yourself washing the floor. I can move my hand unconsciously, without watching, or I can move it with full awareness. And there is a qualitative difference. When you move it unconsciously it is mechanical. When you move it with consciousness there is grace. Even in the hand, which is part of your body, you will feel silence, coolness – what to say about the mind? With your watching and watching, slowly the rush of thoughts starts getting less and less. Moments of silence start appearing; a thought comes, and then there is silence before another thought appears. These gaps will give you the first glimpse of meditation and the first joy that you are arriving home. Soon the gaps will be bigger, and finally the gap is always with you. You may be doing something, the silence is there. You may not be doing anything, the silence is there. Even in sleep the silence is there. For a meditator there are no dreams; dreams and thoughts are cousin-brothers, there is not much difference. If thoughts disappear, dreams disappear. And if for twenty-four hours a day you are surrounded by silence you will come to know what my secret is. If you go near a lake, you start feeling cool. There is no secret in it – it is the milieu. You go to the forest and you feel the difference in the atmosphere. You are the same but the atmosphere around you is different. When you come closer to me… and to come closer to me you are not to walk and sit by my side. To come closer to me is to be not a Christian, not a Hindu, not a Mohammedan, not a Buddhist, not a communist. To come close to me means that you don’t cling to any ideology, you don’t go on holding onto the past. To come close to me means you start living moment to moment. Neither the past means anything to you, nor are you worried about the future. This very moment becomes the only reality. In fact it is the only reality. And if you can be in this moment, you can be on a faraway star but you will be close to me and you will feel a serenity, a silence, a lovingness such as you have never known. I am not doing anything, remember, so don’t be grateful to me. I am a non-doer – I am just being available. That is not much of a doing. I am available, like the trees in the forest and the lakes and the ocean, and the sun and the moon. I am available. Now it is up to you to come close to me, or go away from me. If you can come close to me you will start feeling things that have been unknown to you, and soon you will realize that what you are feeling close to me you can feel yourself wherever you are. That is the greatest moment of happiness for a master, when his disciple can be on his own. You must know the meaning of being a disciple, people have forgotten; it comes from “discipline.” And all the religions have corrupted the meaning of discipline; its root meaning is learning. Coming close is learning. What I have got, you have got. I am aware of it, you are not aware of it. -OSHO Excerpt from From the False to the Truth, Chapter Three

Neti-neti is essentially mindfulness... There may be other descriptions on how to do it, but what worked for me is neti-neti, practiced as mindfulness in each and every moment, in spite of what I was doing... When you are mindful about your thoughts, emotions, feelings etc, as you watch them with awareness, you would often have to remind yourself that what you are observing is not you... Neti-neti, means rejecting everything that is observed as 'not this, not this' (not me, not me, in other words)... It is not that you have to mentally repeat that thought, but realize the truth of it. Sometimes when I got stuck at mindfulness, and deluding myself, I had to often make a discrimination between the witness and what was witnessed, and realize that what was witnessed was not me.. This is neti-neti. You keep rejecting every thought, feeling, sensation as not you which will actually reduce the thought waves in your mind. Finally it will help you narrow down to what is essentially you and remove the dual notion completely.

I hear many people say that enlightenment doesn't end in eternal bliss and such a thing is not possible.. But some scriptures in Vedanta as well as many vedantins say otherwise. Here is what they say: Enlightenment doesn't have to cause eternal bliss but there are some people who actually attain this bliss because of their Prarabdha karma. Ancient text called Yoga vashista, speaks about 7 bhumikas, the stages of enlightenment.. Out of this, only the first four are really the stages of enlightenment.. The fourth stage is called Moksha. After that, attainment of 5th, 6th and 7th only happens for rare individuals due to their prarabdha karma.. I also remember Ramana Maharshi saying to a disciple in a conversation that a jnani is in the 4th state. In the fourth state, duality completely dissolves.. As far as a jnani is concerned, a jnani in the 5th state is no superior than the one in the 4th state, because both have lost the sense of individual existence, so there are really not two persons to compare. Only for the onlookers, there is an apparent superiority in the jnani of the 5th stage. A jnani in the 7th state can go into samadhi and never come back alive... Here is an excerpt that I found online which has some citations as well: http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/2010-May/024462.html Here is a conversation between Ramana and a seeker: Question: To which of the seven stages of knowledge [jnana-bhoomikas] does the sage [jnani] belong? Bhagavan: He belongs to the fourth stage. Question: If that is so why have three more stages superior to it been distinguished? Bhagavan: The marks of the stages four to seven are based upon the experiences of the realised person [jivanmukta]. They are not states of knowledge and release. So far as knowledge and release are concerned no distinction whatever is made in these four stages. Question: As liberation is common to all, why is the varistha [literally, the most excellent] alone praised excessively? Bhagavan: So far as the varistha’s common experience of bliss is concerned he is extolled only because of the special merit acquired by him in his previous births which is the cause of it. Question: As there is no one who does not desire to experience constant bliss what is the reason why all sages [jnanis] do not attain the state of varistha? Bhagavan: It is not to be attained by mere desire or effort. Karma [prarabdha] is its cause. As the ego dies along with its cause even in the fourth stage [bhoomika], what agent is there beyond that stage to desire anything or to make efforts? So long as they make efforts they will not be sages [jnanis]. Do the sacred texts [srutis] which specially mention the varistha say that the other three are unenlightened persons? Question: As some sacred texts say that the supreme state is that in which the sense organs and the mind are completely destroyed, how can that state be compatible with the experience of the body and the senses? Bhagavan: If that were so there would not be any difference between that state and the state of deep sleep. Further how can it be said to be the natural state when it exists at one time and not at another? This happens, as stated before, to some persons according to their karma [prarabdha] for some time or till death. It cannot properly be regarded as the final state. If it could it would mean that all great souls and the Lord, who were the authors of the Vedantic works [jnana granthas] and the Vedas, were unenlightened persons. If the supreme state is that in which neither the senses nor the mind exist and not the state in which they exist, how can it be the perfect state [paripurnam]? As karma alone is responsible for the activity or inactivity of the sages, great souls have declared the state of sahaja nirvikalpa [the natural state without concepts] alone to be the ultimate state.

It is said again and again that being aware is enough for transformation. How does it work? It is a significant question, because if you are aware of your cancer, the cancer will not be cured by just being aware of it – that is true. But as far as psychological transformations are concerned, the moment you are aware of them they disappear – because they do not exist as realities, they exist only as illusions. You have seen a ghost standing in the dark: now you bring light, and you say there is nobody. Just the shape of the tree was giving you the false impression that somebody was standing there. The ghost has disappeared, because in the first place the ghost was not there. Awareness helps, brings transformation, because the illusions that you are suffering from are not realities. If you become aware of a rock, the rock is not going to disappear. But if you become aware of the ego, the ego is going to disappear, because the ego is not a reality. If you become aware, fear is going to disappear, because fear is not a reality. If you become aware, death is going to disappear, because death is a lie, it is not a reality. Awareness functions in two ways. One: if something is real and you become aware of it, it becomes tremendously beautiful, it becomes psychedelic, it becomes very colorful. If it is unreal, it disappears. If it is real, it becomes more real; if it is unreal, it becomes absolutely unreal. Awareness is a light. If you bring light into the dark room, darkness will disappear, but the paintings on the wall will appear. When the room was dark, the paintings were not there; although they were there, you could not have seen them – for you they were not there and darkness was there. When you bring light, darkness is there no more and the paintings have appeared. Something disappears when you become aware, and something appears. Death disappears, deathlessness appears. The ego disappears, egolessness appears. You disappear as a separate entity: God appears. God means, “I am no longer separate.” “Was you ever in love, Dusty?” asked Walker Long of old Dusty Rhodes one day as they were picking up and putting them down on a railroad right-of-way. “Yeah, once when I was a young squirt, I was in love,” answered old Dusty. “Well, you never did get married, did you?” pursued Walker Long. “Nope, I never did marry,” vouchsafed old Dusty. “How did that happen?” “Well, it was like this. The gal I was in love with wouldn’t marry me when I was drunk, and I wouldn’t marry her when I was sober.” Awareness has its own ways. If you are aware, you will not be able to do many things you have been doing up till now, and you will be able to do many things you have never thought of doing before. If you are aware, you cannot be angry, because anger can exist only in a state of unawareness: that is a prerequisite for anger to exist. If you are aware, anger is impossible and compassion becomes a natural outcome: the same energy that was becoming anger becomes compassion. If you are aware, sex disappears and love arises: the same energy that was becoming sexuality through unawareness takes on a new manifestation of love through awareness. As far as psychological transformation is concerned, awareness is enough, analysis is not needed. That is the difference between Eastern and Western psychology: Western psychology is too concerned with analysis. In the East, for five thousand years psychology has existed; it is the most ancient science in the East. But its concern is totally different; it is not at all interested in analyzing, the whole thing seems to be unnecessary. And now Western psychology is also becoming aware of the fact that analysis leads nowhere. Have you ever come across a person who is totally analyzed? Even Sigmund Freud was not. Nobody can be totally analyzed. You can analyze one dream, but another day another dream arises. You can go on analyzing – people go to the analyst for years, but dreams don’t disappear, they go on coming; analysis does not make them disappear. But in the East we know the art of making them disappear. So who bothers? It is as if you see a ghost in the dark – there is no ghost, just the form of the tree – and you start analyzing. You never come close to the tree, you never bring light; you start analyzing the form from far away. You can go on analyzing: nothing is going to happen out of that analysis. Eastern psychology says: Light a candle, bring the candle to the place, and first see whether the ghost exists at all. If the ghost does not exist, then why bother? Why many, many years of analysis? The analyzed goes on pouring out rubbish, and the analyst goes on dissecting, analyzing, labeling and categorizing the rubbish. Much work goes on, and all futile, much ado about nothing. Western psychology is based on analysis, Eastern psychology is based on awareness. Just watch. There is no need to analyze. Become more and more intensely alert. And if you are aware of a problem, half the problem is already solved just by becoming aware of it. Just a slight awareness of the problem, and half the problem is already solved, because you have taken some energy out of it: that energy has become awareness. Become more aware, and the problem becomes dissolved. Chunk by chunk, the problem disappears as you become aware, because you are pulling back energy which you had been pouring into the problem – that was creating the problem. You are taking your energy back, you are not cooperating any more. You were the creator of the problem: you have taken your energy back. -OSHO From Unio Mystica, V.2, chapter 15

@Harikrishnan Here are some of the books that I liked very much: 1) My way - The way of white clouds 2) Empty boat 3) Krishna - The man and his philosophy 4) I say unto you - Vol 1 and 2

@Deep I like Vedanta, Buddhism and Samkhya, all the three

He who knows the Bliss of Brahman, whence all words together with the mind turn away, unable to reach it—he never fears. - Taittiriya Upanishad (2.4.1) When a man finds fearless support in That which is invisible, incorporeal, indefinable and supportless, he has then obtained fearlessness. If he makes the slightest differentiation in It, there is fear for him - Taittiriya Upanishad (2.7.1)

@Dizzy unfortunately, there is no just list of people that I know of.. If i find something I will let you know.. Since Ramana Maharshi was in deep samadhi in his early years, he might have been in 6th bhumika.. But his samadhis stopped after a few years..

@zazed I agree.. Actually, desire for enlightenment itself becomes a hindrance at one point...In that sense, yes, seeking enlightenment to gain anything is a trap.

@123456789 Here is the explanation of 7th bhumika given in yoga vashista: Rishis say that the seventh janaana bhoomikaa is the last frontier of the realm of Jnaana. It is pure peace and cannot be explained by the power of speech. Words cannot describe that state of sublime quiescence. That is the ultimate stage – there is nothing more beyond that. After experiencing that state, some call it Siva, some people say it is Para Brahma, some people say it is Vishnu; and yet some say it is Soonya – Nothingness. Some people say it is Pure Energy, some say it is unconditioned Time; and some say it is Prakruti and Purusha. The Ultimate Reality cannot be explained by words, but still people call It by different names. After having this realisation, some start thinking about it in different manners, according to their capacities. Although it cannot be explained by anybody at any time, still they would be trying to explain it somehow. ......................................................... Here is the explanation of the stages 4, 5,6,7 given by Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha MahaswaminaH, the 35th Jagadguru of Sringeri Peetham, (mutt established by Shankara): A jñànin involved in worldly activities is referred to as a brahmavid. If a jñànin has the practice of going into nirvikalpa-samàdhi and coming out of it on his own, he is a brahmavidvara. If he can be awakened from nirvikalpasamàdhi only by the efforts of others, he is a brahmavidvaräyàn. A brahmavidvariShTha is one who never emerges from nirvikalpa-samàdhi. His body perishes while he is in samàdhi. As a brahmavidvariShTha has the best pràrabdha, he is deemed the greatest jñànin.

one more thing.. Out of bhumikas I mentioned, only the stage 1-4 are stages of the progress... Anything after that is something that happens out of chance.. It rarely happens that some people reach 5th, 6th or 7th bhumika... The explanation given for this is prarabha karma.. And the eternal bliss I am talking about is the bliss of the people who are in 6th or 7th bhumika.. Also, as far as the jnani is concerned, there is no inferior or superior stage after the 4th.. It is not so difficult to understand.. We are in bliss when we sleep and there is no duality in deep sleep. This happens everyday. The only difference in the jnani going through this bliss is that his consciousness, empty of any objects just shines.. And most of the times, these jnanis are in samadhi, absorbed in Self.

@The White Belt It acts as a reminder.. I have Ramana Maharshi's photo in my room. It is also done out of love by people, similar to having a girlfriend's photo in the purse.

@zazed actually, bliss is the nature of self itself.. it is not like experiential happiness.. You are bliss, and there is really no distinction of experiencer and experience in the bliss of self. the bliss of the self which is always mentioned is not an emotion. (what you say is a common misunderstanding, because there is bliss but there is no duality) The reason I posted this is to stop people from getting deluded. This is not a trap as you mentioned. It is the exact opposite.. I will tell you why. Ego doesn't like it when enlightenment is mentioned as bliss.. Because, for the ego, it looks like a distant goal, something that cannot be achieved. Even though the whole point of enlightenment is realizing ego as an illusion and totally dissolving the sense of separate identity, paradoxically, ego also wants to get enlightened. And when enlightenment sounds like something that is very easy to attain, ego likes that idea. I have witnessed this in so many people. If enlightenment is mentioned as eternal bliss, what is the problem for anybody to hear this? There is no problem at all. It is the ego which wants to make it as a problem. In India, every scripture talks about how blissful the direct experience of atman is... When you are not enlightened yourself, why deny something that is written again and again for ages in our tradition? And even if this was false, it is still not misleading,.. Because, no one, after realizing their own nature going to get disappointed after seeing that it is not eternal bliss.. Trust me, you wont say "Oh my God, people cheated me saying that enlightenment is bliss, I wasted all my life to attain this and now I am disappointed". Instead, you will just relax into the peace of your true nature. On the contrary, if enlightenment is understated, there is a danger.. Then every ego out there will be ready to declare that it is enlightened.. And that is the trap! Anyway, as I mentioned, most of the enlightened ones are in 4th bhumika (stage)... In this stage, they are active in the world and they will go through pain and pleasure, but with no complaints or regrets.. They don't feel incomplete or diminished. Yoga vashista has the complete description of all stages.. It says that in the 6th bhumika, people cannot come out of samadhi without others help, they are always absorbed in self, with no body consciousness, and food has to be fed to their mouth while they are in samadhi, to keep them alive. Ramana maharishi was actually like this when he was in the cave. (it is funny when I read from people who say 'ramana was training his mind, he was contemplating about self in the cave etc)... Termites were eating his body and he had absolutely no body consciousness.. I have dissolved my sense of duality three years before.. It took time to get steady; now I am always peaceful and there is a kind of pleasantness and innocence most of the time which I can't describe... But it is not like any emotions of happiness that I have usually experienced in life. It is not a distinct or special experience. It is just the nature of reality itself. When I don't have troubling vasanas, I am usually in deep pleasant peace. It is not an emotion or feeling, it is just me.

Here is a verse from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Chapter 4, Section 3, verse 33: “4.3.33 He who is perfect of body and prosperous among men. the ruler of others, and most lavishly supplied with all human enjoyments, represents the greatest joy among men. This human joy multiplied a hundred times makes one unit of joy for the Manes who have won that world of theirs. The joy of these Manes who have won that world multiplied a hundred times makes one unit of joy in the world of the celestial minstrels. This joy in the world of the celestial minstrels multiplied a hundred times makes one unit of joy for the gods by action those who attain their godhead by their actions. This joy of the gods by action multiplied a hundred times makes one unit of joy for the gods by birth, as well as of one who is versed in the Vedas, sinless and free from desire. This joy of the gods by birth multiplied a hundred times makes one unit of joy in the world of Prajapati (Viraj), as well as of one who is versed in the Vedas, sinless and free from desire. This joy in the world of Prajapati multiplied a hundred times makes one unit of joy in the world of Brahman (Hiranyagarbha), as well as of one who is versed in the Vedas, sinless and free from desire. This indeed is the supreme bliss. This is the state of Brahman, O Emperor, said ‘Yajnavalkya. I give you a thousand (cows), sir. Please instruct me further about liberation itself.’ At this Yajnavalkya was afraid that the intelligent Emperor was constraining him to finish with all his conclusions.” Shankara also acknowledges this verse in his commentary on this Upanishad and further cites a verse from Mahabharata in his commentary: “Vedavyasa also says, ‘The sense pleasures of this world and the great joys of heaven are not worth one-sixteenth part of the bliss that comes of the cessation of desire’ (Mbh. XII. clxxiii. 47).” ......................... So, when you reach a stage in your life which makes you wonder 'Am I enlightened?', be careful not to delude yourself... First of all, once your perception of reality becomes non-dual, there is not going to be an agent or a separate entity to ask 'am I enlightened', when there is true enlightenment. Because, that is when you realize that there is no one to get enlightened; you come to realize that both bondage and liberation were illusion.. (There was no snake in the first place, all you perceived in the darkness was a rope Go deep in your mindfulness practice, sharpen your attention and awareness to witness each and every arising thought, keep zooming into the field of consciousness and catch every though before it arises.. If you do it moment to moment, the illusory entity that you take yourself to be will completely disappear! Mindfulness when done properly is self-inquiry; self inquiry when done properly is mindfulness... If you are able to see that they are one and the same, then you are on the right path, a fast track to enlightenment.

Here is a secret to know anything quickly and precisely than you normally would.. It is to have an attitude 'I don't know'...And this is a requirement in spiritual seeking as well. There is a problem in human mind. It cannot live with uncertainty. Because, uncertainty is uncomfortable and also undesirable to ego. A false verbal statement can actually satisfy this uncertainty. That is why many people are satisfied when they are told that God created the world in a week. Because, now they know and they are certain. This is what leads to all kinds of beliefs. And these beliefs stop us from actually knowing the truth. This is exactly the reason why we believe our thoughts and take them too seriously. Sometimes we quickly attribute certain qualities to other people, thinking 'he is arrogant', 'she is stupid', 'he is dishonest' etc. It is called as fundamental attribution error, a bias that human minds have. Once a person gets these thoughts, he actually beliefs these thoughts; In future, this leads them into believing in only those statements which actually agree with the previous beliefs, and that leads to another bias, called confirmation bias. Do look up these biases, because it will help to notice the bias in your minds and be mindful of them. Beliefs don't stop with these things alone. People form beliefs on how their emotional state or the state of well being is going to be solely based on the current emotional state or the current level of well being. That is called Projection bias. Also, it is due to this bias that people sometimes have beliefs on how an enlightened person's state of mind will be. It is also because of this that some people don't believe in enlightenment at all. Just because suffering is unavoidable now, they think they can't be free of suffering forever. But all these beliefs stop people from knowing. Sometimes we form our beliefs based on an authority, sometimes a beloved one, sometimes based on a book etc. Then we start to argue what we believe is correct. It is not so easy for ego to see a contradiction of the beliefs of the mind which it thinks that it owns. It doesn't mean that we should completely reject whatever we hear, read or think. There is a third choice, to just let it be as a memory or as a possible hypothesis, without coming to a conclusion. Because once we have come to a conclusion, we have closed all the doors of knowing anything further. The whole approach of science is based on this. With a scientific approach, you don't believe in anything. And you dont come to a quick conclusion based on a very week evidence. Even if you do come to a conclusion, you become open minded to change it if a new observation challenges the earlier conclusion. A true seeker is actually a scientist of the inner world.