Part 3: So... You Want To Know The Truth...
This begs the question, if there is a future, how can it be changed? Or, if there is a free will how can there be a destiny or vice versa?
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa explains this as a cow tied to a 5 metre long rope. Within the ambit of this length, the cow has the freedom to do what it wants. Beyond this length it is destiny. If the cow behaves itself, there is every possibility that its owner may extend its rope or even set it free. Likewise, if your free will is handled properly so as not to hurt others or yourself, there is every possibility that our rope too can be extended and we may be liberated. Such liberated persons are called Jeevan Muktas.
Another thought for us to pay heed to is that our negativity works by our own power supplied to it!
When we live in the present moment, it is inconceivable for us to hurt ourselves or others. Our being is filled with life…it overflows with energy. All disturbances are possible only in the unconscious level. Masochism and sadism are the same. We have only one mind which acts as a double edged sword. Remember…one trait is not exclusive of the other. If we hurt ourselves, we hurt others too and vice versa.
We need to understand that even hurting ourselves, such as worrying continuously, is a sin. The Upanishad verse says Ānandam Brahmayedi Nābhya Jānath, which means…do not waste this life which is bliss or ānanda, which is our birthright. Every moment spent without bliss is a waste and disrespect to our life. While puja or worship done sincerely can bring peace, living in bliss and joy is true puja.
When we come to the present moment, we experience a new dimension…a new space in our being. We are longer bound by the past and the future begins to heed us. When we carry guilt, we have pre-determined that we cannot change the future; we project the past into the future. Conversely, if we have the confidence of changing our future, we do not carry our guilt. Only when we are free from the past, we have the energy to change the future.
In the Hindu epic Ramayana, anybody who opposed the monkey king Vali lost half his power to him just by facing him. Likewise, we lose half our power to the past when we oppose it and face it. Our guilt sucks half our energy. Understand clearly…our negativity works only by the power supplied by us, by our own faith in it.
The stronger our resolve to fight a habit, the greater the strength we are giving it to fight us. Time and again, the same mistakes are committed directly in proportion to the guilt associated with them. Like fighting with our shadow, it is a no win situation. When we are in the grip of the past, naturally the future cannot heed us. Therefore drop the past and come to the present moment and we will see that our future is available to us and that we can penetrate it. When we live in the past, it is the past that will penetrate the future and live it.
Understand that it is from this moment that the next moment takes birth. If in this moment, we believe that we cannot drop a habit from the past, we obviously cannot drop it in future. Coming out of the past into the present moment, gives us an understanding of the future. When we sincerely attempt to be in the present moment the time shaft stops moving.
It is said that Buddha was once asked his age. He replied that 'eternity' was the only age he could think of. In the 9th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna that the same science was earlier delivered by him to Ishvaku, the Sun God and now to him. An astounded Arjuna asks how a person as young as Krishna could have possibly delivered this science to the Sun God who was aeons old. Krishna tells Arjuna that the time shaft never moves when one is in the present moment.
When we enter the present moment, we become the past, present and future…time stands still. As of now we are now familiar only with the horizontal component of the time shaft; that of past, present and future.
Our idea of the past and future is just an idea!
When you are in the present moment, you experience a different dimension, the vertical component. In this dimension there is no time; no past, present or future. It is Eternity. This state is otherwise called enlightenment. In my opinion, the Cross of Christ itself denotes the horizontal and vertical dimensions of time. Christ was a person who had experienced both these dimensions and experienced a different space and being. He was dead in the horizontal shaft but always was alive in the vertical shaft. This is what is shown in the incidence of crucifixion and resurrection.
The deeper underlying philosophical meaning to be understood is that when you die in the horizontal line, you experience Chitakasha, the vertical dimension which is timeless, space less zone. When you experience that consciousness, you become Christ. This is why the ancient masters repeatedly declare, 'It is Eternity, It is Eternity, It is Eternity'. Our idea of the past and the future is just that; an idea, not reality. If you can get just a glimpse of the present moment, the past and future becomes clear to you.
The experience of the present moment is what I call meditation. Meditation does not require anything extraordinary…just an awareness of your body and its actions in the present moment lead you to meditation, to the vertical dimension of the time shaft. Just a glimpse of it can change your whole life. However because of its very simplicity it escapes us time and again!
Sitting by ourselves is meditation!
We can all do complicated things for the simple reason that they satisfy the ego. People undertake dangerous crossings of oceans in boats, scale formidable mountains, expeditions to the Poles etc, but if only they could sit with themselves for some time! We can sit with anyone, except ourselves! Be clear that sitting with ourselves is meditation. If we sit with ourselves without any thoughts or words, we experience the glimpse of the time shaft. The future comes into our control when we experience this moment.
Do not take these words as merely a pleasant evening's discourse from a Master, for the mind has all the cunning methods to deceive you to escape from the present moment. Just as any living being has its own survival instinct, our mind too has its own survival instinct. It provides us with ample misunderstandings, doubts and confusion to keep us under its control. This is exactly the reason why we are constantly in the grip of the past or the future. When we experience the present, we experience a different dimension of our being. In the first level we have the power to know our future, in the second the power to change it and in the third level, we realize there is no past or future.
At the intellectual level is the power to see the future, and at the emotional level, is the śakti or the power to change dreams into reality. At the third level, is the buddhi or intelligence to realize that reality itself is a dream.
There is a nice story of the Zen master who, on waking up from his bed one morning, starts weeping. His disciples are surprised and ask him the reason for his behavior as this was not becoming of an enlightened person. The master replies that in his dream he saw that he had become a butterfly. The disciples do not understand the significance and ask him to explain. The master says he did not know whether he dreamt that he was a butterfly or whether the butterfly dreamt that it was now a master! He was weeping because he did not know which was which. Likewise, there is every chance that your listening to this discourse is just one more dream.
You are either a Buddha or Buddhu!
When your conscious level is raised to the third level, you realize that what is perceived as reality is actually a dream.
The person who has realized this…is the Buddha or the Awakened One. There are only two kinds of people in this world…Buddha or Buddhu (a fool)! You are either awakened or in darkness. When you experience the time shaft just for a glimpse, you get the power to see the future, when you penetrate it a little deeper, you get the power to change the future and when you enter it totally…you realize that the idea of a past and a future is itself a dream.
The search for miracles should lead you beyond them. When you search for miracles…you miss the mystery of mysteries, which is God or Existence. It is a good place to start your search but not a good place to end. Let your search for miracles lead you to the energy which is a miracle by itself. Let it lead you to the space where you experience the whole Universe, the prapancha or Existence itself.
Ramana Maharishi says beautifully that the bread becoming blood in your body is the greatest miracle. But taking all this for granted, we search for something else.
May you experience the glimpse of the present moment in your being…your space…the Eternal Bliss, Nithya Ananda.
Questions and Answers
Q: Can you elaborate on how to live in the present moment?
A: A simple technique. Live inside your boundary…that is all! You are the body, start living inside it. People ask me whether they need to renounce anything to gain enlightenment. I tell them they need not renounce anything they already have, only renounce what you do not have! The future is not in your hands…just renounce the future.
Live what you have. The body is what you have and that is your boundary. Live within it. The question follows that if you stay within your body, how do you plan your day to day activities? Understand that chronological planning does not take up your energy. Almost all your energy is sucked by psychological worry. Even as you drive a car, be aware of every muscle and fiber of your being and your actions. Witness what is happening inside your body and your mind…as often as you can remember. You will glimpse the time shaft.
Q: How to drop the guilt from the past ?
A: There was a rishi meditating in the forest, who was not yet enlightened. One night, a thief begs shelter at his ashram. Not knowing his identity, he readily agrees. The next morning when he realizes the identity of the thief, he is filled with guilt and remorse at having helped a thief. Suddenly he hears an equally remorseful voice from above. When he asks God for the reason, God in turn asks him that if he felt he had sinned in giving food to the thief for one night, where could He, who gave the thief food and shelter his entire life, go to wash his sins?
It is only we who have the idea of saint and sinner. Society stamps us with this idea. All these rules of society are only created for harmonious living. In course of time, they become law. As long as the rules are understood and followed in this context, all is well. The moment you start internalizing the letter more than the spirit, beyond the understanding, you start creating guilt. You fall into the trap of guilt whenever you catch the letter instead of the spirit.
There is small story about a Swami in a South Hindu monastery who had a pet cat. But as the cat disturbed the morning puja, he had it covered with a basket during puja. As days went by, the Swami passed away and so did the cat. The devotees were at a loss as to how to continue the puja without a cat, which ultimately led to stoppage of the puja itself. The puja stopped for want of a cat! This is an example of catching the letter and not the spirit.
The Master is like the finger pointing towards the moon. If you see the moon, you have reaped the benefit as that is your purpose of having come to him. The problem is that you catch hold of his finger and miss the moon and because you do so, the next generation also misses the moon. I always say…Do not catch THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM, catch Nithya Ananda. Catch the spirit, the energy, not the form. When you stop imbibing the energy, you will miss the form even when it is before you.
Our ancient sages, the rishis are the only people on Earth who had the courage to declare that their literatures could be updated. Śruti and Smruti are two kinds of literatures in Vedanta. The Śruti are Veda or Upanishad which are the ultimate teaching. The Smruti, such as Manu's codes, speak of social law and day to day life. The sages have boldly declared that Smruti can be updated at every age or yuga. When you catch only the Smruti, it creates guilt. Do not get caught in it. You need to understand and update the Smruti. Truly speaking, there is no rule of right or wrong. What is food for one is poison for another. What is right in one society is wrong in another. Morality is to be based on consciousness, not on conscience. Conscience is just skin deep…based on fear and greed. It is time you stood up to base your maturity on consciousness, not on Heaven and Hell or the idea of Fear and Greed.
Conscience is given to you by society whereas Consciousness is natural.
Drop your guilt which is simply foolishness and mature to a deeper understanding of your self.
A parable of Ramakrishna goes thus:
Once there were two brothers. One decided to become a sadhu and the other went into business. After 15 long years the younger brother who became a sadhu came back to the village. His elder brother who had stayed back in the village to become a businessman received him well. They started discussing what they had both achieved in the span of 15 years. The elder brother told the younger about how well he has done materially and asked the sadhu how he had fared. The younger one stood up without a word and walked to the river near by. He started walking on the waters of the river and reached the opposite side effortlessly. The elder brother took a boat and joined him on the opposite bank. Crowed the younger brother, 'This is what I achieved in these years.' The elder brother responded, 'In all these years what you learnt was what I spent two rupees (5 cents) for. What a waste!'
Understand that miracles are foolishness. There are no miracles. They just happen in a different plane. People ask me again and again to materialize objects. Mind you doing it becomes a habit for some. People then come only for the magic show, not for transformation. When people asked me to materialize an object, I only clapped my hand and produced an idol of Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth in Hindu mythology. I told the group that it was only a trick of hand. I can not create anything. I can only teleport it. I only moved the idol from my room to my hand. It is similar to waves moving between cell phones and how it transports voice. I converted the matter of the idol into energy, teleported it, and reconverted energy into matter.
Be very clear…there are no Miracles in Life!
At one time or another we all experience the phenomenon of precognition. We feel that some one is about to call us, and sure enough that person calls.
We are watching TV and suddenly we feel that the character we're watching is about to say something, and sure enough she obliges. We are about to sit down for dinner, the door bell chimes, and we know who is at the door; sure enough, it's the old school mate one hasn't seen in years.
I find that in my discourses often over 50% of the audience responds positively when I ask if they had experienced a similar phenomenon at any point in their life. When this happens, most of the time we brush it off saying that it is a coincidence. When to some this happens repetitively we attach the tag of a 'gifted' person, similar to those who see auras and sense the vibrational energy of people and places.
When the magnitude of the experience is far greater we no longer term it a coincidence. Some one predicts disasters accurately time and again, and forecasts deaths. Others heal people given up as lost cases by doctors. Some produce substances out of thin air. We then call them miracles.
What we see as coincidences or miracles, depending on the degree of the unexpectedness of the incident, are those where we do not see the causal linkage between these incidents and what we understand to be scientific laws. Anything that is not supported by what is termed as 'science' is either barbaric or a miracle.
I repeat…there are no miracles in life. It is just that we do not yet understand the laws that govern the occurrence of such incidents which seem to defy 'scientific' laws. Once we understand that this universe supports laws that go beyond the 'scientific' laws that have been so far discovered by humans, we start understanding the cause and effect linkages behind many of these inexplicable happenings and start appreciating the mysteries of our Universe.
Astrophysicists now talk about a parallel universe. They have discovered that each time a star system dies as a black hole another start system is born in a big bang somewhere else in the universe. Every action produces a reaction.
Chaos Theory now says that action and reaction do not need to be proportionate. There is no linearity in nature. A butterfly fluttering its wings in China causes a tornado in Mexico! This is science, not imagination.
Matter and energy were totally different entities until Einstein established their linkage. Even after Einstein, it was either matter or energy, never both in the same time and space. It is only recently that the principle of 'singularity' that allows matter and energy to exist simultaneously in a common time and space framework has been understood. 'Singularity' is the common universal platform, the Collective Consciousness that we call Brahman.
Making contact with Brahman is not impossible, once you know how. With thoughts crowding our mind, all that we normally do is to flit from one zone to another, from regrets to speculations, with no time to ground ourselves in the present. However, once we allow ourselves to settle in the here and now, in the present, thoughts gradually disappear. When thoughts disappear there is an expansion of our ability to expand in time and space, which allows us to traverse the past, present and future simultaneously.
Once we are in the present miracles become common place, and we do know that they are no longer miracles but a natural flow of the universe.
If all cell phones except two are destroyed, the two owners will become Gods. When we do not understand the cause we call it a miracle. Personal transformation is the ultimate miracle that we can get from a Master. I had a disciple, a magician, who used to produce vibhuti, sacred ash, from my feet. I told him, you are doing what I can not do.
People asked me how they could be sure that I had moved the idol of Lakshmi from my room. I then produced a mala, a necklace*,* and told them to check their stock in the store room…to their surprise, one was missing.
In Tantra, which actually only means technique, there are two practices. The first is Dakshinachara which is just meditation; the other is Vamachara which relates to use of sex, meat, liquor etc. to realize divine power. Alchemy comprises removing, adding and processing from base metal to get gold. It is our choice which practice we wish to take up to reach the ultimate goal. It is ultimately our own choice whether we wish to transform ourselves from lust to divine love or not!
I pray the divine to bless all of you with courage to reach the ultimate…Nithya Ananda! Thank you.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM is reviving Hinduism as the 1008th Acharya Mahamandaleshwar (the head for all spiritual leaders) of Atal Akhada (ancient apex body of Hinduism), coronated as Mahamandaleshwar (Supreme Spiritual Head) of
Maha Nirvani Akhada (largest apex monastic order) and the youngest Mahamandaleshwar, ordained as the 233rd Guru Mahasannidhanam (Pontiff) of Thondai Mandala Aadheenam, ordained as the 293rd Guru Mahasannidhanam (Pontiff) of Shyamalapeeta Sarvajnapeetam, ordained as the 23rd Guru Mahasannidhanam of Dharmamukthi Swargapuram Aadheenam, and coronated as the 203rd Emperor of Suryavamsa Surangi Samrajyam.
The Srimad Karana Agama, Purva bhaga, Patala 71, Sakalotpatti vidhi, Sloka 8 & 9 (Sacred Ancient Hindu scripture) declares:
इत्येवं नि ष्कळं प्रो क्तं परं भा वमि ति स्मृतम्। सृष्टि स्थं लो करक्षा र्थं लो कस्यो त्पत्ति का रणम्।। सा धका नां हि ता र्थं तु स्वेच्छया गृह्णते तनुः ।
In this way (Shiva) who is Nishkala - without any body and parts, who is the Ultimate Supreme Being, who is established in the Creation, who is the Cause of the creation of the Universe, assumes a body out of His Free Will for the protection of the Universe, and for the welfare of the Spiritual seekers and Devotees.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM is the reigning spiritual emperor of 17 ancient traditional Hindu kingdoms and the reviver of the most ancient, most peaceful, still-living and long-lasting demonstrable system that shows the possibility of peaceful co-existence amongst people. Following the coronation to establish KAILASA worldwide at the age of 16, for the past 27 years, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM, as the face of the unified Hindus, has been single-handedly, tirelessly inspiring the dispossessed
Hindu Diaspora to reclaim their Hindu centric freedom and stand unified for the centuries-old Hindu genocide.
The 1008th living incarnation of Paramaśiva, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM stands as the unifying force for the 2 billion born and practicing Hindu diaspora worldwide and established the Hindu State, KAILASA for the persecuted Hindus in over 100 countries.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM has made resolute efforts towards recognizing and legitimizing the Hindu genocide which has been receiving scant consideration by global leaders and international bodies, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM founded KAILASA Uniting Nations. For the past 27 years, this international body has been responsible in building relations, bridging dialogs, inspiring leaders, uniting nations towards acknowledging the Hindu policies which are universal, life positive as referenced from the ancient text of Hinduism. This is the 'ahimsa' (non-violent) way of bringing acknowledgment to the horrors of the Hindu genocide, the untold facts of the darkest act of mankind on Earth to the most contributing civilization - KAILASA.
KAILASA is an apolitical nation whose vision is enlightened living for all. Towards this goal, KAILASA is the only Hindu nation on planet Earth today bringing legitimacy to the principles of Hinduism. Social principles, economic principles, judicial principles, Hindu medical principles, and Hindu economic principles. KAILASA is THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's response to humanity's global problems of poverty, hunger, illiteracy, disease, violence and global warming and the continuing ethnocide and genocide of over 80 million Hindus worldwide since 7 centuries.
Over the last 50 years, the effects of meditation and its significant impact on stress, crime rates, violence, political decision making and even war in local and global consciousness is well established. Unfortunately, in the last two hundred years, forcibly we are made to believe Hinduism is a functional principle only for enlightenment and spirituality. It is absolutely dysfunctional for the political, social, economical system. Making Hindu family structure, Hindu social structure dysfunctional is the greatest crime done against humanity.
Sanatana Hindu Dharma has faced both historical and ongoing religious persecution and systematic violence, in various forms including assassination attempts on living incarnations, targeted elimination of Hindu pontiffs through bio war and lawfare, cyberbullying, Hindu phobia, forced conversions, documented massacres, demolitions, desecration and grabbing of worship temples and monasteries, looting of Hindu temples properties, destruction of Hindu educational institutions, elimination of well known Hindu libraries, the gross violation to the freedom to practice the Hindu school of liberated thinking (Sankhya), Hindu schools of living enlightenment (Jeevan Mukthi), gross violations of the right to freedom of religion that includes violations of the right to life, personal Hindu integrity or personal Hindu liberty, mass execution, looting and enslavement.
Hinduism was once practiced freely in over 56 nations across the continent from Afghanistan, Bharat, Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka, all the way to Singapore, Malaysia, and Cambodia and Indonesia, and in 200 states, 1700 samasthanas (provinces) and 10,000 sampradayas (traditions). Over several centuries the combined forces of foreign invasion, political upheaval, colonialism and religious persecution systematically ended millennia of Hindu Swarajya, or self-rule. Today Hindu temples remain in a few countries but the Hindus who worshiped in them have been ethnically cleansed.
The revival of Hinduism through the civilizational nation of KAILASA globally irked vested interests of atheistic terrorist militant elements, caste supremacist terrorists and other anti-Hindu forces who executed a massive persecution and genocide on SPH and His followers on 2 March 2010 that continued for the next whole decade and comprised of over 70 assassination attempts, over 250 sexual assaults on SPH and his monks and disciples, lawfare of 120 false cases over 10 years, massive hate propaganda in electronic media of over 14,000 hours and print media of over 25,000 articles in 5 years, destruction of heritage properties worth over 27 million USD, and the continuing ethnocide and genocide of over 80 million Hindus worldwide since 7 centuries. Specifically, the lawfare involved:
Delegitimizing SPH by hate propaganda, disenfranchising Him of His civil and human rights, prejudicing Him from fair representation and fair trial
Repeated illegal imprisonment, with brazen torture, custodial assassination attempts, supported by system justification in various forms, including the common processes of bureaucracy, indifference, self-deception, diffused responsibility and has resulted in continued systemic complicity with torture, murder and genocide
Well-planned multi-layer false hate propaganda by the 'fourth estate' media sustained by moral disengagement, leaving the broader public in a state of willful ignorance, motivated denial, out-group victim-blaming, dehumanization and bystander apathy to even genocide.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM stands in solidarity with the untold, multi-level - social, political, intellectual, religious, cultural, linguistic, economic, legal, digital persecution done to Hinduism and faced by Hindus and Hindu minorities worldwide for the past several thousands of years continues through the modern day. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM has been recently acknowledged by the United Nations for the persecution of The SPH and the KAILASA global community, especially the affected women and children.
The KAILASA with de facto spiritual embassies operating across over 100 countries and having presence across the globe as the largest spiritual knowledge source on Hinduism is spiritually governed with the life positive, all-inclusive, universal policies sourced from Hinduism revived by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM. Having enriched and enreached more than one billion individuals over the past 27 years the KAILASA raises the voice to protect Hindus, defend Hindus and preserve the Hindu narrative for the world.