My musings: Be Characterless

My musings: Be Characterless

Be Characterless

)Be Characterless

There is so much emphasis placed on character. I see quite a few people refer to the importance of character in being true to themselves.

When we go for work, our character is verified. When we arrange marriages, character is verified. The outer world is huge on character. It needs facts, logic.

But, in the inner journey this obssession with character is a hindrance. Character is an off shoot of mind. Mind keeps clinging into the past and projecting into the future.

A person who is particular about his character projects himself in a way accepted, appreciated by the society so that others see him as predictable and safe to be around with.

But when one is aware, responds spontaneously, he is meditative. He does not operate out of fixed ideologies and principles. He is natural and not bothered about being seen as "normal".

When a man places emphasis on character in spiritual realm, he takes great care to lead a simple life, to be seen as pious. This very effort to be seen as simple only strengthens the ego.

A person who is aware, true does not care one way or the other. If he has comforts, he does not shun them, nor does he cling. He does not possess his possessions. He lives with no effort. So even in luxury, he lives simply. But a person who takes pains to lead an austere life lives a complex life in his simple avatar.

Truth has no requirements, no principles, no ideologies. It is characterless

Life is not a straight line- my musings

Life  is not a straight line_ my musings

Life is not a straight line. It has beautiful curves, many twists and turns.

Some musings:

When one is busy gathering knowledge from various sources, trying to get answers to questiions, one is able to share his knowledge with others easily.
But when one has known something, when something has become intrinsic to one he finds it almost impossible to express in words what he knows from his core. But the need to share is so tremendous that he shares at the cost of being misunderstood.

When one gains fame for his work, and starts identifying with it, he stops being himself. All that he does has an imaginary audience. The witness in him then goes in hiding in the din of the applause of this audience. Then the work is like plastic flower, perfect,beautiful, but without fragrance.
If he remains unidentified with fame, then the witness in him , his own pure awareness guides him, to continue to be creative. Then his work really flowers, with a fragrance of its own, even if all may not love the fragrance.


When one is radiating love, he does so, only by not hating. For love is who each one is. It is not acquired from outside. But when the mirror is cleaned, it shines in its true glory.

The more one seeks the crowd, the more one is lonely.

The one who is comfortable with one's aloneness, solitude, is the one who is at home everywhere in the crowd and when alone.

The more one gives, the more he gets without aiming to get.

The more he keeps grabbing the more emptier he feels.

At the peak of knowing, a man realizes that he knows nothing. It is said that when one has climbed the highest peak of the mountain he realizes that he has just begun to climb.

Rules are for man. Man is not for rules.

Money is for man. Man is not for money.

The man who is certain about everything has no clarity. He is confused when he faces the unknown, uncertain element. The man who has clarity is never certain about any thing. For life is uncertain. One who knows this has clarity in uncertainty.

The one who exclaims "holy cow" often knows nothing about holiness. The one who is not self righteous, has tremendous respect for the entire universe, even to those who hate or judge him.

To sum up, life is inclusive. All polarities merge and meet. Day meets night and night meets day in twilight and dusk, good turns evil and evil turns good. The master has the seed of the wretched in him, the evil has the potential to be a master in him

Being and doing

BEING AND DOING

All the great masters were who they were- the enlightened beings and from this place of being who they were, they spoke.

But their followers focused more on their preachings and emphasized on the dos and donts and missed the significance of being who you are.

So the list was something like do charity, keep a fast, say the prayers.

But, if the heart is not generous, the charity can be manipulative. For instance it can be just hype to create a brand name or for any other ulterior motive.

If the fasting is done by a toiling labourer who can hardly afford two square meals a day, then the hours of his fasting are filled with desire for food.

If the prayer is from a heart full of greed or bitterness, the prayer will be for fulfilling more greedy demands or for wishing the downfall of a perceived enemy. This is no prayer. If the being is grateful and aware, then his life becomes a prayer, all that he does is prayerful.

So, first be who you are and let the doing follow. It can never be that you do to be. Normally we wish that we had something, then with that we do something and with that doing we be something. But it is the reverse. First we be, then out of this being we do and as a byproduct we attain.

If we are loving then all that we do becomes love.
If we are responsible, then we do responsible deeds.
So doing follows being and not the other way round.

Detached, or disinterested?

DETACHED, OR DISINTERESTED?

Many people use the word "detachment" in spiritual parlance to imply life devoid of any enjoyment, any desire. They equate life to prison term, this body as a bondage. There is almost a fear of life, and of anything that can give happiness or pleasure. Detachment, to them, also means disinterested in people, in particular to family

But I feel that such disinterest is indifference. Life then becomes dull as it loses its sparkle. Our body and mind are our vehicles in this plane. When we are true and sensitive, we listen to them from our heart and then there is no chance of abusing either. Both will then serve us as they are meant to. They become masters only when we are asleep or unaware.

Detachment goes beyond attachment and indifference. If we choose attachment, at some point indifference sets in. If we choose indifference, attachment is suppressed and comes out in some way. If nothing, it becomes attached to the concept of detachment.

Detachment happens when one lives with awareness, when one is true to the moment or to what the moment brings. Welcome the moment, but no clinging to it when it is gone. No deliberate anlysis or dissection. If insights come, listen. But no conscious looking for lessons to learn.

Detachment does not distance one from people. One feels close to the entire existence and to all. One enjoys what life offers, but with the awareness that we own nothing, even if we happen to own it legally. Apparently life remains the same. But inwardly, there is a different quality as there is gratitude, but no clinging.

Having specific friendships do not matter much as one is friendly always. Otherwise most friendships or relationships become trade offs.
May be, that is why they have ships in the word "friendship" and "relationship". But if we are friendly and relate, one is loving without agenda.

Life without intensity is less like life and more like death. Detachment is when one stops identifying with events and people. This zen saying sums it up well:
"If you come, you are welcome.
If you go, we do not pursue"

I want to say, "Beware of indifference."

The extraodinary is in the ordinary

The extraordinary is in the ordinary

We keep looking for something to take our attention away from our mundane daily lives, something to alllevikate our boredom. Taking breaks, vacations, all help, but only temporarily.Ultimately, we have to live our daily lives and more importantly, live with our selves.

If we remain aware,every moment, every person, every job will become interesting for us.Every moment will be creative and not an automatic reenactment of previous actions.

If we are efficient at office work, cleaning, cooking, exercising, our efficiency should not make us do every thing like a robot. At the beginning of learning any of these, we were aware, as we were yet to learn. Then we became robotic after learning. If we do the same job with awareness, it becomes interesting.

The same goes for our relationships too. We are interested only when we are getting to know a person. Once we are familiar, we switch to auto mode and take the other for granted. This is especially true for our family. Awareness transforms our speech, deeds and words. Relationships remain interesting without "working" on them.

Food is another aspect. We eat our meals, sip our tea without mindfulness. If we are aware, our body gives many signals, we can hear what it says. We cannot, then have cravings for eating or be gluttons. We eat when we there is hunger and know to stop as soon as we are full. Simple meals become grand feasts. Less becomes more.

There is gratitude for every thing and every one and life becomes the gift that it is!

Givers and receivers

Givers and receivers

Kahlil Gibran, had in "The Prophet said,

"You give little when you give of your possessions
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give
For what are your possessions, but things you keep and guard for fear
we may need them tomorrow?"

WE all are givers or receivers sometime in our lives, many times we are both, simultaneously.

Much is made of giving.

Some people give for the joy of givng.

Others give because it is written in the scriptures. They believe it is holy to give and you will attain to heaven if you give.

Some give as it gives their ego a boost.They gain respectability and are seen as virtuous.

But, then some give because, they know not how not to give. They give, not even for the joy of giving, or let alone for any other reason, but because they know not how not to give. They just feel that they are overflowing with abundance and that they must deliver. When they do find some one to receive, they do not bother to judge if the receiver deserves the gift. They know that they are just a channel for givng. It is the universe that gives and gives, unconditionally. They do not reflect or contemplate after givng.

To quote Gibran again,
"And you receivers,
and you are all receivers.
Assume no weight of gratitude,
lest you lay a yoke upon

yourself and upon him who gives
Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings
For to be over mindful of his gift is to doubt his generosity
who has the free hearted earth for mother and god for father"

What is a giver without a receiver? There is no need to feel bonded or indebted when we receive a gift. Some of us receive a gift and remain anxious till we manage to give a gift in return.Accept gracefully. But do not make it a trade that he has given and we have to give back only because he has given. That takes away from the beauty and grace of givng. Gratitude is there. But let that be all there is.Let us not feel that receivng is a burden.

Let us not distort or color the givng and receiving with the ego of the giver or the burden of the receiver

Enlightened? Chop wood, carry water

Enlightened? Chop wood, carry water

An old Zen saying goes,

"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood carry water."

Enlightened or not, one needs to carry on with his/her work. All other things remain the same. For he/she still has a body. It needs food, it needs clothes, it needs shelter. Just because one is enlightened, can one expect to be fed, clothed and housed by others?

The enlightened person never thinks that he is more than others who are not as spiritual or enlightened. He knows that all are equally important in this cosmos/leela . We all have our own individual journey to make. We are placed at different positions at a given time.

My Satellite Center

My Satellite Center

Many many...years ago, I used to read loads of self help books, the "How to......."kind of books.

They gave tips like imagine that you are loving, you are forgivng, from today, love every one, practice loving, blessing. Keep a note of when you failed to do so and even rope in loved ones to monitor you. Some books advised one to undertake a fast of a different kind, where you abstain from talking loudly, from getting angry, used only loving words and lots more. One had to keep a diary for this.I did all this with enthusiasm. I even succeeded initially for many weeks. I started feeling happier, more loving. Friends remarked that I was glowing with happiness.

But I could not continue for long. My mind was getting restless, I had started feeling pressurised and my control snapped.I felt like a rubber band stretched to its fullest. The moment it is let off, it goes back to its original position or eventually breaks if held without leaving. The low followed my earlier new found high. I realized that this fake it till you make it kind of thing was not working for me. I had however, tasted something, even if it was counterfeit. I had a teaser of the real. I realized that even my illusory happiness was effective when it worked. This happiness was created by will power, by mind. While it lasted, it looked like the mind had created a center of its own. But this center turned out to be a satellite center. This love, happiness was fleeting. may be because mind cannot stay in the same state for long . It craves for change. It wants to go up when it is down, down when it is up, left when it is right, right when it is left.

Then I learned that I had to be true to myself, no matter what. I had to acknowledge all my emotions without labeling them as good or bad. I am now more centered (real center) and steady though I have a long way to go. I am who I am and my love, compassion comes from who I am. Not the other way round of me practisng love and other virtues and becoming loving etc.

Do we need a master?

Do we need a master?

There is so much talk about finding a guru to help us in our spiritual path. I do not know if it is a must or not. I am neither for or against any one having a master.Personally, though I have never had, nor have any urge to find one.

But many people, many books, events have guided me, helped me, transformed me and are still doing. I have also noticed that whenever I have sought guidance, it arrives from some source- some one or something. But arrive it does!

So, the catalyst or teacher can be any one, a book. a house help, a child, friend,a website like this. All of us are learning and teaching almost all the time. Even masters and teachers are learning while they teach. New insights may come when they are teaching, or when some one asks them a question. So, a disciple or student too is a teacher as the master/teacher learns while he is teaching.

We learn all the time, even if we do not deliberately ponder to see what we have learned. If we are sensitive, all that needs to be learned gets absorbed in us and that which needs to be unlearned does so

A master is some one who will see that his followers follow him just enough to become their own masters and do not cling to his apron strings all their lives.

I see friends and close relatives who follow masters, some follow well known ones others not so famolus ones. They become utterly dependant on their gurus for every little or big thing. At their best, they seem to be his imitators. They make principles and formulas out of their masters' teaching and give sermons to unsuspecting friends or relatives or even strangers at times. At their worst, they seem utterly hopeless and helpless.

I wonder if any disciple has been able to discover the master in himself, after following a master. I have not come across any. Or may be, if a few have, they prefer to lead lives away from the limelight. And then, again I wonder if it is because, they did not have any one specific master that Buddha and Jesus were what they were- masters.

For those who are lucky to have found their masters, they would do well to remember this quote by a Zen master, Nan Yin, "Please do not bite my finger. Look at the moon". The master is pointing out to the moon and the disciple is looking at his finger and clinging to it, instead of looking at the moon, the direction where he is pointing,