Part 3: Open the Door...Let the Breeze in!
Meditation Chisels. Chisel No. 14,
In love and enmity the truths maybe lies as these depend on the fabrications of the mind!
It so happens that you get to read just two pages of a full novel.
If you wish to tell the entire story of that novel from these two pages only, how will it be? Will it be a story at all?
There will not be any connection between the true novel and the story that you have fabricated. It is impossible too!
Do you know yourself fully?
Think about it.
Others are like you only. When they themselves do not know about their own selves they talk…
'That man is like this...
This man is bad...
He is good ...'
There will be very little truth in all such opinions that you express about his character.
One person cannot describe about another person. Still if you do, your description about a person as good or bad – both descriptions are false only. These are only fabrications which appear beautiful and seem to have exact resemblances.
All your love and enmity only have these fabrications as their basis. You fabricate others only according to your own mind's views.
Result:
You may believe an enemy as a friend.
You may believe a friend as an enemy.
Reason: You don't really know about a real man at all!
How long you will live with fabrications?
If you really want to live, want to grow...
Throw away both good and bad types of fabrications.
Become a bold person to meet the true man, the true woman.
Do away with all sorts of descriptions.
The beautiful display of colours of life will begin to appear.
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- Understanding only is wisdom.
- Man struggles and suffers only because of his wrong understanding of what he has created in his mind about life and relationships.
- Incorrect understandings are graves getting formed in the mind.
- If all the questions and doubts of the man have to be resolved in only one word, then it is only 'understand'!
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A logistician asked the lady Zen Master, Shalana: What is unavoidable to man?
Shalana said: Death.
The man asked: What has to be won over by man?
For this also Shalana said: Death.
The man further asked: What is the root cause for man to get entangled in various problems?
Shalana said: Death.
- Unavoidable Death of the body.
What has to be won over? – Death of the mind.
That which has to be corrected – Death of life.
If the ego, which totally controls body, mind and soul, dies, every thing will become all right.
The medicine which destroys ego: UNDERSTANDING.
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'One cannot understand a woman's mind.'
Is it possible to understand a man's mind?
'Woman's mind is very deep.'
Then is a man's mind within reachable distance? With what instrument did you measure?
It will be embarrassing if we ask the poets who write exaggeratedly about women.
As a matter of fact, nobody can ever understand anybody else's mind. The reason is that the mind is deep only. So nobody can understand the mind easily. This will apply to men as well as women.
Beauty of the soul will be visible in the face. The niceties of the inner feelings will be visible on the facial expressions. When a person has severe stomach ache to the extent of giving considerable pain, and if he tries to laugh, how will that laugh be?
It will only be pretence. However much he tries to speak and laugh normally, the expression of his pain will surely be evident in his facial expressions.
When ordinary stomach pain makes a change in our facial expressions...
To what extent the mental pain, which is present in every one of us, and known only to us, affect our facial expressions as also the way of our expressions? To what extent will it affect our social life? Think well.
The soul gets pungent, becomes decreased in goodness, ego gets strengthened further and further the mental pain increases.
Sudden outburst of anger, Unanticipated frustration, Anxiety without any specific reason, Hatred that comes without any specific purpose.
All the above are the very important symbols of a person's soul getting pungent and it being affected by ego.
Anger, agitation, anxiety, and hatred – all these are the expressions of ego only.
After taking a bath in the sea, we have to take bath in fresh water. Otherwise, the layer of salt which has formed itself on the body will spoil our peace of mind. Particularly, if there is a wound on our skin and if the sea water comes in contact with that, there will be no limit to the irritation we get.
Ego does the same job within us. It is only because the ego creates the wounds in our minds, mental pain and suffering happen even in ordinary aspects of life.
Prithviraj is an average person suffering from mental pains. His nature is such he wishes nobody should suffer due to him and also that he should not in any way harm others.
But, what a pity...
He did not live as he wished even for a day.
That day, Raj, who had returned home, vexed with some problems he had faced in his office, poured out all his disgust on his family members and then returned to his normal self. He got angry even for small mistakes of his children.
One hour later, even if his children did certain things not to his liking, he will softly say: See child, you should not do things like this. You can take liberty in our house, but if you do this any where else outside our house, you will earn a bad name for yourself and for me. Do you understand?
So saying he coolly solved that problem.
'Are these really children at all Oh...One heat-branding mark for a bull, one single word for a good boy...Either you should know by yourself, or you should listen and accept advice from others. Oh! These children are born, without either of these, only to torture me...'
The same man, who, an hour earlier, had humiliated and tortured one and all in the house saying, 'As is the mother, so are the children...' has now become very normal and calm.
Raj came for psychological consultation. He began saying, 'There is quarrel very often in my house. Even my wife and children do not understand me. Even yesterday....'
'Yesterday, one hour earlier there was quarrel in your house. But you did not suffer nor were affected when the children behaved the same way an hour later. For the same condition, earlier you had suffered but later did not suffer, which means with whom is the real problem?' I asked.
After thinking for some time, Raj replied, 'The problem is with me only....!'
I asked, 'Yesterday, before you became angry, what was the state of your mind?'
After thinking for quite some time, he said, 'I was in a disgusted state of mind due to problems at work.'
Because Raj was rather intelligent, he understood very clearly whenever each matter was explained to him.
I further explained to him, 'Since you were in a very low mood, even ordinary actions of others seemed to affect and bother you. On your returning home, after an hour, your mental pain had subsided. You had come back to normal conditions. Therefore even if others behaved in such a manner to make you angry, you did not become angry. The reason for your problem is your mental wound only. Do you understand?'
That person who was complaining, 'Nobody understands me' returned home motivated and inspired and with the satisfaction of having got the answers to his problems, knowing, 'My soul had become pungent and had become wounded. That was the reason for my problem. First of all I should understand myself....'
Mental wound will be there to the same measure as the ego. Mental pain will be there to the same measure as there is mental wound.
Fights and quarrels will continue to be there to the same extent as that of mental pains.
Keeping yourself as the center and having the fights, quarrels and disturbances happening outside as your guidance, find out the extent and measure of the mental pain within yourself. You will come to know the potency and strength of your ego.
Try to reduce the pungency of your being or soul. The well being of the soul will begin to increase automatically. Family life will be a happy one.
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A meaningful incident.
- A Zen story which gives the answer for the question, 'Which one is ego?'
The astronaut, who returned from trip to the moon, gave the stones he had brought from there to his Master.
When the Master asked, 'Oh fool, a lot of stones like these are there in our garden itself. Did you use a rocket to bring this?' the astronaut got pained sharply somewhere.
The Master explained, 'The cause for your pain is only your ego.'
Search for the reason. You will discover the ego.
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Meditation chisels. Chisel No. 15.
Having known every thing, you wish only to act as though you don't know any thing....deep in your mind!
Psychologists say: Whatever happens around you, only 2% of it comes to your attention.
In that case who is responsible for the balance 98% not coming to your attention?
The same doctors who expressed the above truths, also say 'Though only 2% gets registered in your conscious mind, in your sub-conscious mind, everything that happens gets registered continuously.'
If through hypnotism, we take an accident victim upto the sub-conscious mind, he is able to say what all happened around him.
He is a person who knows every thing. He is able to say about the car which knocked him down in a second, its number, colour of car, sticker; even the small scratches on the car.
After waking him up from hypnotic state, when he is in his conscious state, if enquired about the same accident, he struggles to say even the type of car which knocked him down.
Having known every thing, he remains a person not knowing any thing.
Does it not appear strange that he is talking as though he does not know any thing about a thing known to him fully? Though strange, it is a fact.
What is that which makes a man believe he knows nothing while he knows every thing? What makes him act like that?
It is only the mental desire, which likes to be dull and lazy.
It is only a part of the ego.
It will appear surprising for you to read this. But this is the truth.
It is sufficient if your level of consciousness increases from 2 % to 3 %.
Your illusory desire will come to light.
If this is recognized just once, it is enough. The illusory curtain lying between known and unknown things will disappear easily. So begin to remove it.
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An inner picnic.