Relationship is all that is there in creation.
Physics says there are only electrons, protons and neutrons and the entire set of chemical elements are nothing but unique relationships between these three basic units. When a neutron establishes bonding with a proton and an electron we get the first and the most simple form of matter, the hydrogen atom. There is nothing called hydrogen without this relationship. Change the relation by adding few more basic units we get some other chemical elements. Atoms are special relationships betweens subatomic particles. There are only very few subatomic particles but they can give birth to a large number of unique atoms based on certain laws of bonding. In the next level atoms can form bonds between them to give birth to infinite number of molecules. Charcoal is one type of relationship between carbon atoms but when the same carbon atoms relate in a different way we get diamond. The only difference between charcoal and diamond is the way carbon atoms are forming bonds between them.
A living cell is a set of relationships between various molecules; the property called life emerges in that special type of bonding. These living cells bond together in various ways to express innumerable life forms. The human form is a result of a very complex set of relationships. A human being may appear to be an independent entity but it is in fact a complex society in itself. What we know as ourselves is a set of experiences and their memories appearing to be confined in a human body. The idea of me or I constantly evolves as we constantly add new experiences to our collection or as we establish new relationships or even by reorganizing existing relationships. Our sense of I is identified with a set of memories, we cannot erase these memories but we can modify how we relate to these memories.
The Nature evolves through relationships, through union, through yoga. But the yoga of Nature is unconscious and extremely slow. In the human vessel the Nature wakes up and ask questions.
What am I? Where am I? Who am I? Why am I? How am I?
This is a threshold.
After this stage evolution is a conscious process and the first task is look at oneself as an object and understand what is the relationship between I and this body, these emotions, these memories, these knowledge, these people, these environments etc.
You have arrived.
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Monday, July 26, 2004
Ownership and misery
Recently I came across a young man who was suffering from guilt. He had a good job which he gave up for the sake of a better one but unfortunately the new job failed to come through at the last moment. Now he is jobless and his parents are supporting him financially. But he feels miserable and guilty for living on his parents’ money.
What is the cause of this suffering? An answer came to me today while exploring the first line of ‘Esavasya Upanishad’ which goes like this:
Sanskrit:
Esavasyam idam sarvam yet kim cha jagatyam jagat
Tena tyaktena bunjeetha ma ghritha kasya sviddhanam.
English translation by Sri Aurobindo:
All this is for habitation by the Lord, whatsoever is individual universe of movement in the universal motion. By that renounced thou shouldst enjoy; lust not after any man’s possession.
Conceptually we know that the universe in its creative unfolding is emerging out of one fundamental force, we know that there is only one energy that diversify into multitudes, we know that there is only one life that animate all that is living, there is only one Self behind innumerable selves, there is only one Being behind the multitude of beings.
This universal Being or Self is here seen as the Lord who inhabits all what so ever. All wealth belongs to the Lord of the universe, not to you. Therefore renounced you should enjoy.
We do not own the sun or the sunrise, yet it is wonderfully enjoyable to watch the sunrise; so is the blue sky and the cloud formations, so is the starlit sky and the moonlight, so are the wind and the rains. We do not own the air we breathe, the air that animates me goes forth to animate something else and goes further from life form to life from, from nation to nation animating the whole world. It is a universal energy animating all that moves.
Money too is a universal force animating the mankind. The force behind money does not require metallic coins or paper notes or electronic means to move from one place to other. However mankind has structured its movement through material and electronic means so that it can be measured, owned, controlled and manipulated. Mankind is struggling to master this force through these devices and yet the lordship eludes all the attempts, systems burst and crumble over time.
However for a short while one has the illusion that this is my money or this is my parents’ money or my neighbor’s money. We have this urge to own, to be the master, the lord. Borrowing money from someone is to surrender one’s lordship, to become a slave. Slavery is dreadful and one struggle to gain lordship over not only money but also of all the forces of Nature. Story of man is filled this struggle.
The deeper truth is that all wealth belongs to the Lord of the universe but we cannot see this truth as long as we live in the limitations of the ego. Ego is the boundary condition that separates one from the other, ego divides everything into mine and not mine which an illusion of the limited perception. All suffering comes from this division. The sense of ownership is an illusion of the ego.
Our young man suffers from guilt because he is bound by the limited idea of ownership even when the money is coming through his parents.
Does anyone feel guilty for breathing all the time? No, because no one owns the air. When the ownership is introduced the struggle and wars are bread as consequences. The idea of ownership and attachment breads suffering.
Everything belong the Lord of the universe who inhabits and animates all that moves. What comes to you comes from the Lord of the universe, what goes out from you goes out to the Lord of the universe.
Therefore renounced thou shall enjoy says the Upanishad.
What is the cause of this suffering? An answer came to me today while exploring the first line of ‘Esavasya Upanishad’ which goes like this:
Sanskrit:
Esavasyam idam sarvam yet kim cha jagatyam jagat
Tena tyaktena bunjeetha ma ghritha kasya sviddhanam.
English translation by Sri Aurobindo:
All this is for habitation by the Lord, whatsoever is individual universe of movement in the universal motion. By that renounced thou shouldst enjoy; lust not after any man’s possession.
Conceptually we know that the universe in its creative unfolding is emerging out of one fundamental force, we know that there is only one energy that diversify into multitudes, we know that there is only one life that animate all that is living, there is only one Self behind innumerable selves, there is only one Being behind the multitude of beings.
This universal Being or Self is here seen as the Lord who inhabits all what so ever. All wealth belongs to the Lord of the universe, not to you. Therefore renounced you should enjoy.
We do not own the sun or the sunrise, yet it is wonderfully enjoyable to watch the sunrise; so is the blue sky and the cloud formations, so is the starlit sky and the moonlight, so are the wind and the rains. We do not own the air we breathe, the air that animates me goes forth to animate something else and goes further from life form to life from, from nation to nation animating the whole world. It is a universal energy animating all that moves.
Money too is a universal force animating the mankind. The force behind money does not require metallic coins or paper notes or electronic means to move from one place to other. However mankind has structured its movement through material and electronic means so that it can be measured, owned, controlled and manipulated. Mankind is struggling to master this force through these devices and yet the lordship eludes all the attempts, systems burst and crumble over time.
However for a short while one has the illusion that this is my money or this is my parents’ money or my neighbor’s money. We have this urge to own, to be the master, the lord. Borrowing money from someone is to surrender one’s lordship, to become a slave. Slavery is dreadful and one struggle to gain lordship over not only money but also of all the forces of Nature. Story of man is filled this struggle.
The deeper truth is that all wealth belongs to the Lord of the universe but we cannot see this truth as long as we live in the limitations of the ego. Ego is the boundary condition that separates one from the other, ego divides everything into mine and not mine which an illusion of the limited perception. All suffering comes from this division. The sense of ownership is an illusion of the ego.
Our young man suffers from guilt because he is bound by the limited idea of ownership even when the money is coming through his parents.
Does anyone feel guilty for breathing all the time? No, because no one owns the air. When the ownership is introduced the struggle and wars are bread as consequences. The idea of ownership and attachment breads suffering.
Everything belong the Lord of the universe who inhabits and animates all that moves. What comes to you comes from the Lord of the universe, what goes out from you goes out to the Lord of the universe.
Therefore renounced thou shall enjoy says the Upanishad.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Changing within
One has two sides, inside and outside, subjective and objective.
There is a world outside, an objective world perceived through the senses.
There is also a world inside, a subjective world of desires, impulses, imaginations, dreams, thoughts, concepts, ideas, beliefs, faith etc.
One can observe both the worlds but one knows only a small part of both the worlds. Most people know more about the world outside than the world inside them because by habit their attention is locked on to the world outside.
The world outside flows in through the senses and every sensory inflow invokes a response in the world inside. This may be awakening of a memory, an emotion, a thought, an impulse etc and this response manifests in speech and act which will affect the world outside.
Outside flows in and modified the inside; the inside flows out and modifies the outside.
These interactions are largely unconscious and mechanical, but they can be made conscious and creative.
For example:
Encountering a snake may activate shrinking and knee jerk reactions whenever one encounters a snake. A snake in the objective world produces a set of reaction patterns in the world inside causing repeating physical responses. Normally these reaction patterns are largely unconscious and mechanical.
Now to solve the snake problem one can attempt to change the situation outside or the situation inside. Changing outside world may be in the line of eliminating all the snakes from the world or living in a snake free area etc. Changing the inner world involves observing one’s inner reaction patterns and bringing conscious control over them. As the inner responses are modified one’s response to snake encounters also undergo change. One may even find encounter with snakes as a means to know one’s inner response patterns. What was once a repulsive creature is now an opportunity to know and master oneself. Snake may even become a topic for inner research and one may even master them in the world outside!
One is no more trying to run away from or eliminate snakes.
A problem is transformed into a means for inner growth.
All the problems one encounters in the outer world are like this snake; they are opportunities for inner growth.
The way we perceive the outer world and its effects on us depends largely on the reaction pattern within us. We can modify our perceptions by becoming conscious of the mechanical and conditioned inner responses and modifying them. By thus changing inside we can achieve greater mastery in the world outside.
The key is within.
There is a world outside, an objective world perceived through the senses.
There is also a world inside, a subjective world of desires, impulses, imaginations, dreams, thoughts, concepts, ideas, beliefs, faith etc.
One can observe both the worlds but one knows only a small part of both the worlds. Most people know more about the world outside than the world inside them because by habit their attention is locked on to the world outside.
The world outside flows in through the senses and every sensory inflow invokes a response in the world inside. This may be awakening of a memory, an emotion, a thought, an impulse etc and this response manifests in speech and act which will affect the world outside.
Outside flows in and modified the inside; the inside flows out and modifies the outside.
These interactions are largely unconscious and mechanical, but they can be made conscious and creative.
For example:
Encountering a snake may activate shrinking and knee jerk reactions whenever one encounters a snake. A snake in the objective world produces a set of reaction patterns in the world inside causing repeating physical responses. Normally these reaction patterns are largely unconscious and mechanical.
Now to solve the snake problem one can attempt to change the situation outside or the situation inside. Changing outside world may be in the line of eliminating all the snakes from the world or living in a snake free area etc. Changing the inner world involves observing one’s inner reaction patterns and bringing conscious control over them. As the inner responses are modified one’s response to snake encounters also undergo change. One may even find encounter with snakes as a means to know one’s inner response patterns. What was once a repulsive creature is now an opportunity to know and master oneself. Snake may even become a topic for inner research and one may even master them in the world outside!
One is no more trying to run away from or eliminate snakes.
A problem is transformed into a means for inner growth.
All the problems one encounters in the outer world are like this snake; they are opportunities for inner growth.
The way we perceive the outer world and its effects on us depends largely on the reaction pattern within us. We can modify our perceptions by becoming conscious of the mechanical and conditioned inner responses and modifying them. By thus changing inside we can achieve greater mastery in the world outside.
The key is within.
Saturday, May 22, 2004
Settlements in time
“It was done three years ago, in 1991” I was telling a friend about a work I did few years ago.
My friend was little puzzled “In 1991?” she had a confused grin “That’s more than three years!”
It took me few seconds to realize the mistake. I corrected quickly “Sorry, I mean 2001”, an answer that tallied with the calendar.
But I knew there was some truth in what I said first.
Psychologically I felt 1991 pretty close, just three years down the line, 2001 felt as if it is less than one year down the line though I am living in 2004.
It made me ponder over what is happening in my relationship with time.
Initially I thought I have settled somewhere in 1994 like it happens to most people.
Maybe this needs to be explained.
I became acutely aware of the settlements in time when I read “Patterns of the present” by Georges Van Vrekhem. The book was published in the late nineties I guess. The information revolution, cyber culture and open source revolution were well on the way and I was eagerly looking for an aurobindonian perspective on what was happening. But it took me some time to notice that the centre of gravity of the time of the book lay in the revolutions of the 60’s and the 70’s. The book had very little to do with revolutions that were sweeping the globe in late nineties, he had not even really seen it. I told my self “perhaps it is a wrong title”.
It is common to find in Auroville people who live in 60’s and 70’s, they do not really comprehend 2004 except in terms of 60’s and 70’s.
As we grow up somewhere down the line we settle down inwardly, we fail to perceive anything fascinating beyond that point. Passion for life somehow settles around something in the past. We deal with the passing time but not as a participant but more as a wayside observer who is settled somewhere in the past looking at the parade. We no more live in present time, but stay behind in our settlements in time.
Living in the present has many dimensions; sensorial connection with the present is only its physical side, on the psychological side, where are we anchored in time?
From 2004 I can look at 1991 sitting psychologically in 1994.
This is what blew my mind.
Why 1994?
May be because that is the year I quit my profession and became a seeker and those perhaps where the years when I was truly alive.
We have plenty of dead people doing their rounds in Auroville; it is terrifying to see that I am dead since a decade!
I guess it is possible to be reborn without shedding one’s body.
Yoga, it seems is exact opposite of fashion, you go on wearing the same body but rapidly change within.
How does one take rebirth?
Past is like a cocoon, the egg shell.
One has to break it from within.
After my initial wanderings in this direction I realize that there is another way of looking at it.
Time surely is picking up momentum.
My personal time is nearly 3 times faster than what it used to be. So it takes 3 to 4 years of physical time to compose one psychological year!
Ha! That’s a better explanation.
At least my ego is happy.
My friend was little puzzled “In 1991?” she had a confused grin “That’s more than three years!”
It took me few seconds to realize the mistake. I corrected quickly “Sorry, I mean 2001”, an answer that tallied with the calendar.
But I knew there was some truth in what I said first.
Psychologically I felt 1991 pretty close, just three years down the line, 2001 felt as if it is less than one year down the line though I am living in 2004.
It made me ponder over what is happening in my relationship with time.
Initially I thought I have settled somewhere in 1994 like it happens to most people.
Maybe this needs to be explained.
I became acutely aware of the settlements in time when I read “Patterns of the present” by Georges Van Vrekhem. The book was published in the late nineties I guess. The information revolution, cyber culture and open source revolution were well on the way and I was eagerly looking for an aurobindonian perspective on what was happening. But it took me some time to notice that the centre of gravity of the time of the book lay in the revolutions of the 60’s and the 70’s. The book had very little to do with revolutions that were sweeping the globe in late nineties, he had not even really seen it. I told my self “perhaps it is a wrong title”.
It is common to find in Auroville people who live in 60’s and 70’s, they do not really comprehend 2004 except in terms of 60’s and 70’s.
As we grow up somewhere down the line we settle down inwardly, we fail to perceive anything fascinating beyond that point. Passion for life somehow settles around something in the past. We deal with the passing time but not as a participant but more as a wayside observer who is settled somewhere in the past looking at the parade. We no more live in present time, but stay behind in our settlements in time.
Living in the present has many dimensions; sensorial connection with the present is only its physical side, on the psychological side, where are we anchored in time?
From 2004 I can look at 1991 sitting psychologically in 1994.
This is what blew my mind.
Why 1994?
May be because that is the year I quit my profession and became a seeker and those perhaps where the years when I was truly alive.
We have plenty of dead people doing their rounds in Auroville; it is terrifying to see that I am dead since a decade!
I guess it is possible to be reborn without shedding one’s body.
Yoga, it seems is exact opposite of fashion, you go on wearing the same body but rapidly change within.
How does one take rebirth?
Past is like a cocoon, the egg shell.
One has to break it from within.
After my initial wanderings in this direction I realize that there is another way of looking at it.
Time surely is picking up momentum.
My personal time is nearly 3 times faster than what it used to be. So it takes 3 to 4 years of physical time to compose one psychological year!
Ha! That’s a better explanation.
At least my ego is happy.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Word Sacrifice
Words can melt you
Words can set you ablaze
Words can chill you to death
Means of immense power.
Effect of word is immediate
Bright or dark the face change
Mirroring the inner flame
The radiant power of being.
Words are let loose often
Into the altar unconsciously
Driven by ignorance
Leaving behind a dead flame.
Speech can be sacrifice
Not a struggle to win
Nor a weapon to blast
But fuel for the flame.
To know the art of sacrifice
The flame should be seen
In the altar of the other
And offer words as oblations.
It is by Word sacrifice is done
It is by Word the flame is lit
It is by Word the flame is grown
It is by Word we ascend.
* * * * *
ps. The word 'Sacrifice' is used in the sense of 'Yajna' a sanskrit word for sacred fire ritual in which oblations are offered to the fire lit in an altar.
Words can set you ablaze
Words can chill you to death
Means of immense power.
Effect of word is immediate
Bright or dark the face change
Mirroring the inner flame
The radiant power of being.
Words are let loose often
Into the altar unconsciously
Driven by ignorance
Leaving behind a dead flame.
Speech can be sacrifice
Not a struggle to win
Nor a weapon to blast
But fuel for the flame.
To know the art of sacrifice
The flame should be seen
In the altar of the other
And offer words as oblations.
It is by Word sacrifice is done
It is by Word the flame is lit
It is by Word the flame is grown
It is by Word we ascend.
* * * * *
ps. The word 'Sacrifice' is used in the sense of 'Yajna' a sanskrit word for sacred fire ritual in which oblations are offered to the fire lit in an altar.
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