Times of India (National), Pg 16, Editorial, 28.10.2011
Noble Cause And Effect
There’s no separating spirituality and politics when the aim is to serve the people
Girish Deshpande
During a stay at the Kharchhu monastery in Bhutan recently, i had the good fortune of getting a private audience with a revered master of Tibetan Buddhism, HH Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche. I posed to him a query, through an interpreter, about how he looked at politics as a way of serving people so as to improve their lives.
One was awestruck by the simplicity of his response. Any chosen path that alleviates the suffering of sentient beings, if taken up with an ethical motivation, is a noble path. Even if you were to bring true benefit to just one person other than yourself, that would be good enough. It is important to never give up, no matter the hardships on the chosen path.
With civil society’s agitation unfolding over the past few months and an unwilling government periodically playing hardball with a representation of a section of civil society on the issue of a strong anti-corruption law, one aspect has been baffling. It is the near-absence of people seeing the political content of this movement. Worse, though religious colours are being smeared on the movement, its spiritual aspect is unfortunately being clouded. And even if a few popular gurus are bringing in the spiritual content, they are apprehensive about giving the movement political status!
All kinds of names have been coined for the anti-corruption movement. People’s movement, social movement, second freedom struggle these are just some of them. To my mind, however, it is nothing but a political movement driven by the indefatigable spirit of the people. So, in effect, it becomes a politico-spiritual movement. This needs an explanation.
Whenever a reformer or group of reformers uses education to reform a thought process among a section of people, it is termed a social movement or social reform. Such leaders are called social reformers. Consider the brilliant examples of Raja Rammohun Roy’s abolition of child marriage and sati, women’s emancipation through education driven by Maharshi Karve, or any number of other successful social reformers with worthy initiatives to match.
However, when a section of the citizenry makes its government answerable, whether local or national, it is a political movement. Take the example of our very own movement for sovereign status, led by Mahatma Gandhi, where Indians demanded that the colonial powers answer their fundamental question: Why cant we be allowed to govern ourselves. Or, for that matter, consider Nelson Mandela’s antiapartheid movement in South Africa, Lech Walesa’s call for democracy in Poland, the Dalai Lama’s decades of engagement with China (until he recently gave up his role as the political head of the Tibetans to usher in democracy), Aung San Suu Kyi’s struggle in Myanmar and, more recently, the Middle East’s Jasmine revolution.
All these movements were and are fundamentally peoples’ movements. But specifically, as they have made or are making their governments answerable, they have a distinct political flavour that cannot be ignored. This argument should establish the essentially political content of many movements. It applies as well to the one India is currently witnessing: the government is being questioned by citizens on its lack of urgency in framing a strong anti-corruption Bill.
Now, any task that is undertaken with an ethically directed motivation and an intention singularly focussed on rendering service to others where the seeker chooses to pay or not pay for services so rendered, but willingly and happily seeks such service is also spiritual in content. All real dharma gurus, for example, who strive for the well-being of their followers, are engaged in enhancing and elevating the spiritual content in them.
We are well aware that religion has nothing to do with spirituality. It is at best a vehicle, if one chooses to mount it, available as an option. Religion, per se, can be safely parked aside. Teachings, though, are of importance. A spiritual person may not be religious and a religious person need not be spiritual.
In an anti-corruption movement, the spirit and energies of the people are directed towards a common cause: that of improving their own living conditions and of others through reduced corruption, which can lead to an improved quality of life for all. Such a movement has great spiritual merit and content.
One can infer that any activity or profession which bases true service on the pillars of ethics, truth and non-violence and aims at improving the quality of life of a larger section of people has spiritual content. Consequently, if politics were to be based on this principle of well-meaning service directed towards improving quality of life, it would have pure spiritual content as well. Therefore, in their pure conception, spirituality and politics are integrated in each other. Indeed, they are mutually inseparable.
There is compelling reason for any person true to his chosen spiritual path to not shy away from politics, but indeed to actively and positively engage with the political process on a continual basis. As a corollary, anyone in political service ought to be connected spiritually with himself to render such service. A great disservice would be done if each were to stay clear of the other.
The Mahatma, whom we all revere, said, “My brand of politics is based on truth, ethics and non-violence. It (politics) is an inextricable part of me”. This recalls Aristotle who in his wisdom told us: ‘A truly ethical life can only be lived by someone who participates in politics.’
The writer is a social activist
Monday, November 21, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
A bogey called 'Supremacy of the Parliament'
Sakaal Times, Editorial, 30.08.2011
The pendulum has been swinging between stalemate and hope over the past few days and this has kept the country on the edge. Ofcourse, only those who wear nationalist feelings seem to be the pall-bearers of this movement . Others are going about their lives as if this burden is only for those to carry, who have little else to do.
The biggest bogey that the party in office and opposition has called is that parliament is supreme. It is a convenient statement to make, as they find their backs to the wall. The truth is, parliament is not supreme. Parliamentary democracy is. What this essentially means is that parliament consists of parliamentarians, who inturn are elected victorious by a percentage of votes polled in their respective constituencies. This figure hovers between 15-22% of the total electorate of that constituency. Which again means that the victorious candidate represent the voice of that percentage of people. This percentage roughly translates to 2.5 to 3.5 lakh votes in a given parliamentary constituency. It is these number of registered voters that send the elected person to parliament.
Now, what has clearly emerged over the past 10 days is that the number of citizens that have come on the streets in most of the 543 parliamentary constituencies nationwide (and have come out of their own free volition and without inducements, mind you) have been many times this figure. So in a parliamentary democracy system - which is nothing but a conglomeration of parliamentarians who in turn have been sent there to work on behalf of a percentage of citizens who voted for him/her - is supreme and the elected representatives are not delivering, evident from the swathes of people out on the streets, then something is not correct and therefore needs correction.
Many of us have been to restaurants for a meal. As standard operating procedure, the waiter seeks our choice of meal, notes it down, conveys the message to the chef who inturn makes the preparation as ordered and delivers it to us. The patron, is pleased and when s/he is pleased, so is the restaurant management. No confusion. Cut to parliamentary democracy. Citizens being patrons, place a request for good governance measures (strong anti-graft law included) with their elected representatives, who in turn carry this request to the union cabinet who inturn make out policies to the effect, introduce it in the form of bill or a debate, to the very same parliamentarians who put forth the request, who logically should pass it without too much of a fuss, which then becomes an Act or Law which citizens must relish. No confusion again. So far so good.
Now look where the problem arises. Imagine, if the waiter never bothered to ask its patrons what they'd prefer to eat, and conveyed whatever they thought the patron may like, and the chef were to prepare a totally different dish and place before the diner, well, least to say, hell would break loose. Well, this is just what has happened.
Back to the point. if parliament is not supreme as it is only made up of parliamentarians and in parliamentary democracy, the elected representative must deliver (or atleast is expected to do so) the wishes of the people, in whom they have reposed faith, and if they do so, no confusion. If not, unrest is inevitable. A possible alternative is right to recall. However, in the absence of such a law yet in our land the next viable method that Constitutionally exists, is referendum.
Why is the government and the opposition not pushing for this option? An officially backed national referendum on the vital inclusions of the Lokpal Bill. Let people decide and make the government's heartburn lesser. How simple is that?
The disconnect between various sections of civil society is all to apparent. The total disconnect between the political class and a larger section of citizens is now beyond any doubt. The government is in no mood to bypass parliamentary procedures. And need not although it is another matter that it then collectively did not take such a 'holy' stand and not bring in a strong anti-graft law all these decades, even while all this time tens of thousands of crores of public money were being salted away to tax havens. In a scenario of impasse such as this, what then stops it from going back to the people to ask them what they want. Isn't this the very basis of parliamentary democracy?
It would do good for our netas to remember that the very first three words of the preamble of the Indian Constitution is 'We the people...' and not 'we the parliament' nor 'we the parliamentarians' nor any other.
Can we have this done quick so the nation can go back to work and meet your GDP growth figures, Mr PM? National happiness be damned!
The pendulum has been swinging between stalemate and hope over the past few days and this has kept the country on the edge. Ofcourse, only those who wear nationalist feelings seem to be the pall-bearers of this movement . Others are going about their lives as if this burden is only for those to carry, who have little else to do.
The biggest bogey that the party in office and opposition has called is that parliament is supreme. It is a convenient statement to make, as they find their backs to the wall. The truth is, parliament is not supreme. Parliamentary democracy is. What this essentially means is that parliament consists of parliamentarians, who inturn are elected victorious by a percentage of votes polled in their respective constituencies. This figure hovers between 15-22% of the total electorate of that constituency. Which again means that the victorious candidate represent the voice of that percentage of people. This percentage roughly translates to 2.5 to 3.5 lakh votes in a given parliamentary constituency. It is these number of registered voters that send the elected person to parliament.
Now, what has clearly emerged over the past 10 days is that the number of citizens that have come on the streets in most of the 543 parliamentary constituencies nationwide (and have come out of their own free volition and without inducements, mind you) have been many times this figure. So in a parliamentary democracy system - which is nothing but a conglomeration of parliamentarians who in turn have been sent there to work on behalf of a percentage of citizens who voted for him/her - is supreme and the elected representatives are not delivering, evident from the swathes of people out on the streets, then something is not correct and therefore needs correction.
Many of us have been to restaurants for a meal. As standard operating procedure, the waiter seeks our choice of meal, notes it down, conveys the message to the chef who inturn makes the preparation as ordered and delivers it to us. The patron, is pleased and when s/he is pleased, so is the restaurant management. No confusion. Cut to parliamentary democracy. Citizens being patrons, place a request for good governance measures (strong anti-graft law included) with their elected representatives, who in turn carry this request to the union cabinet who inturn make out policies to the effect, introduce it in the form of bill or a debate, to the very same parliamentarians who put forth the request, who logically should pass it without too much of a fuss, which then becomes an Act or Law which citizens must relish. No confusion again. So far so good.
Now look where the problem arises. Imagine, if the waiter never bothered to ask its patrons what they'd prefer to eat, and conveyed whatever they thought the patron may like, and the chef were to prepare a totally different dish and place before the diner, well, least to say, hell would break loose. Well, this is just what has happened.
Back to the point. if parliament is not supreme as it is only made up of parliamentarians and in parliamentary democracy, the elected representative must deliver (or atleast is expected to do so) the wishes of the people, in whom they have reposed faith, and if they do so, no confusion. If not, unrest is inevitable. A possible alternative is right to recall. However, in the absence of such a law yet in our land the next viable method that Constitutionally exists, is referendum.
Why is the government and the opposition not pushing for this option? An officially backed national referendum on the vital inclusions of the Lokpal Bill. Let people decide and make the government's heartburn lesser. How simple is that?
The disconnect between various sections of civil society is all to apparent. The total disconnect between the political class and a larger section of citizens is now beyond any doubt. The government is in no mood to bypass parliamentary procedures. And need not although it is another matter that it then collectively did not take such a 'holy' stand and not bring in a strong anti-graft law all these decades, even while all this time tens of thousands of crores of public money were being salted away to tax havens. In a scenario of impasse such as this, what then stops it from going back to the people to ask them what they want. Isn't this the very basis of parliamentary democracy?
It would do good for our netas to remember that the very first three words of the preamble of the Indian Constitution is 'We the people...' and not 'we the parliament' nor 'we the parliamentarians' nor any other.
Can we have this done quick so the nation can go back to work and meet your GDP growth figures, Mr PM? National happiness be damned!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
SSSSSS-SIMPLY ENTHRALLING!
SNAKES AND MORE…A Curvy Path Less Taken.
If you are the type terrified to confront the creepy crawly creatures of the night, skip this piece please. Others, should you be convinced that to go looking for them in pelting rain in the dead of night is stuff crackpots indulge in, then i accept the compliment. Read on.
Packing my faithful rucksack - which must easily be a strong contender for the ‘most vividly travelled rucksack’ global award, if there were to be a category of this kind – with essential trivia’s, i set off last week on a herpetofauna expedition, i had registered for earlier, in the forests of the Western Ghats. Hepetofauna, a generic term, refers to all species of reptiles and amphibians. But this one was slightly more precise. A Pit Viper Expedition!
You guessed it right! Like many of you out there, my family too thought i’d lost my marbles. Demented, the new buzz word, was closer to it. Mom was almost at breakpoint and managed to convey her exasperation through my kids, who turned approvers and became the mainstays of my logic, whatever that logic was. Wifey was too stunned to offer a comment. Convincing my way through all of that, it was time to head for Goa, from where this craziness was to commence. Which other place, i thought, could be more befitting?
Nirmal Kulkarni, the tall, lanky, soft-spoken herpetologist and scientist, has almost 20years behind him handling, documenting, conserving, basically indulging in reptilian study and works out of Goa. For the latter part, i envy him. Likewise, petite Mittal, disciplined Devdatta and humourous Shrinivas have each excelled in their fields of studying amphibians, millipedes and centipedes, butterflies, birds besides venomous snakes across Indian terrain. So, the rest of us relative greenhorns, Suhas, Omkar, Tapoti, Sarang, Glenda knew were secure amidst the vast coils of collective experience when it came to confronting the much avoidable fangs of the Viper.
The brief given to us was ssss-simple! To look for and find any one of the three types of Vipers viz: Bamboo Pit Viper, Malabar Pit Viper and the Hump nosed Pit Viper. All three resident species of the region. Anything else was welcome and surplus on the expedition.
Over the next four nights and days ten of us scanned the hills, ponds and trails of Amboli, the ghats and lateritic plateaus of Mhadei Wild Life Sanctuary near Chorla, Bhagwan Mahavira Wild Life Sanctuary at Mollem and Castle Rock near Dudhsagar falls. Incidentally, these places are spread across the States of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka.
Vipers are essentially shy and nocturnally active snakes, with striking colour morphs on their body, and posses a distinctly triangular head. They are largely misunderstood and try to minimize their confrontation with mankind. Growing to a maximum of 4ft in length, they like to hang around water holes for the prospect of prey at nights and head out to tree canopy reaches by daybreak. However, it is this genre that also accounts for a huge number of painful deaths annually due to their unforgiving bites in the fields and farms of rural India. Located in between their nostrils and eyes, are two heat sensing pits from which it derives its name. So sensitive are these pits to temperature change that a variation of 0.001 degrees Celsius is enough to alert them and take note of the passing prey to complete the job at an impressive strike rate of 99.5%! This weapon, along with its ‘wait and watch’ approach towards preying, helps wonderfully well in the dead of night. Unmindful ‘passers by’ such as rodents, squirrel and frogs are caught unawares only to end up in the innards of the reptile. It is not strange therefore that an important missile in the US weaponry, the Sidewinder, was inspired and developed on the very basis of this ‘page from nature’ technology of heat sensing and guiding.
The days that followed kind of had a typical cycle. Wake up. Breakfast. Travel to destination. Scan the area. Lunch. Walk into wilderness for opportunistic finds and document them. Tea. More field work, fill-up work sheets on finds. Dinner. Scan forests and plains in the dead of the night for more species and specimens. Ofcourse, this spine-thrilling routine was interspersed with some very interesting films on the wonderful work being done by Romulus Whitaker and Ashok Captain, with whom Nirmal and others have been working on creating awareness and in conservation of reptiles of all kinds, including the King Cobra. Exchanging anecdotes and tales from experiences in the wild is what bonded this diverse group further. Learning snake bite protocol, anti-venom actions & reactions and Taxonomy (study of snake skin patterns) added value to knowledge quotient.
What caught my wonder was the intensity of sincerity that each one of us was putting into the process. All of those of us novices who had registered for this program had never quite done stuff like this before. Nothing ever kept us away from ‘dressing up’ for the occasions - rainwear, gumboots et al - and heading out without any hint of trepidation into slush, streams and meadows with powerful flashlights and camera in tow to make our finds and document them. Not the leeches that some of us lost blood to, not the stormy nights and torrential rains, not the late hours and miles of searching walks, not the hundreds of tiresome notings on the Kestrel (humidity, temperature and wind speed measuring instrument) and GPS readings, not the never drying and mostly stinking clothes and socks, not the nettles, ticks and mosquitoes. Nothing seemed to slow down our enthusiasm. Not even the straying Malabar Pit Viper that had uncannily found its way in the ladies’ bedroom! My sense is that the constant thrill of uncertainty, the magical rejuvenating powers of nature and the collective bonhomie, all woven by a singular thread of loving kindness for the creatures less fortunate, kept us at it.
At final count, over five days, we had between us spotted, identified and documented eight Pit Vipers (including one which was over a meter long that had just feasted), nine Green Vine Snakes, number of amphibians including some rare finds like the Malabar Gliding Frog and Caecilian, millipedes and centipedes in enviable numbers, water and field scorpions, range of spiders including the dreaded Tarantula, hunting ants (referred to as ‘Crazy Army’ for their ferocious bites and much feared ability to decimate prey in short time). All of this left me incredibly enthralled!
Chill mom, your son maybe crazy but he’s back safe…and happy! How’s that for an ending?
Monday, July 18, 2011
AWARE BUT NOT YET AWAKE
Speaking Tree, ToI, 30.07.2011
The locality where i live in Pune, has an proactive residents forum wherefrom we take up civic issues with officials of various government bodies and elected representatives from time to time. The objective of this registered forum is simple and one pointed: to improve the quality of life of residents. So varied issues such as refuse collection, street lights operation, road surface quality, nuisance control and cleanliness, traffic streamlining and other such issues are taken up regularly. So formidable has this forum grown to be that civic officials actually respond to most matters in 24 hours.
However, there are a set of civilians, besides the incorrigible cynics, who never attend or even bother to voice the civic issues concerning them at this forum. They are well-educated, well heeled, concerned and aware of the issues too. They come across as friendly and social people too with good communication skills and intelligence. Then what is it that holds them back from participating? Through observation and a process of elimination, i came to a conclusion. An aware but an un-awakened mind.
Here is where the difference lies.
An aware mind is one that knows that a problem or issue exists but refuses to do anything about it. For example an overweight person with health issues may know that s/he is in suffering due to weight issues and can get to tackle this situation by, say, getting some exercise or bettering his/her eating habits. But instead chooses to remain in a state of inertia about it. The person is aware (about the existence of the problem) but not awakened to address it. Or a person may know that s/he gets angry easily with slightest provocation and this may have landed him/her into many difficult and embarrassing situations too, but yet takes no steps to calm and reign in the mind when such an emotion arises. Again, s/he is aware of the problem but not awakened to provide a solution to it to overcome it.
It is quite easy to be lazy. Laziness requires no effort. To be active requires effort. To identify a problem may be easy but to tide over it requires great resolve. Imagine if an animal in the forest knew it were hungry but refused to do anything about it! It would certainly perish. Or if we knew we are weak in a particular subject but choose not do anything about it before the exam would prove a certain disaster! Likewise, merely being aware of a problem does not solve it. It is the same difference as between: kuch karna hai (problem identification) vis-à-vis kuch kiya hai (problem redressal). While the former (awareness) is passive acceptance the latter (awakening) is active acceptance. This is the fundamental difference.
Likewise in the case of mind control. In an weak or distorted mind there are tempestuous thoughts and emotions arising every day. Some maybe virtuous but most are repetitive and harmful. Ofcourse, we are not so much concerned about the virtuous ones because they will bring us benefit but what about the others un-productive, vicious ones that constitute a majority, which by nature will bring upon us suffering? Then we say, I read somewhere that we should become aware of their arising and they will subside on their own. This is true. However, the real problem arises is getting down to doing it! Before we realize into becoming aware of their arising, they have already slipped past our vigilance and have raised their ugly head in the form of a speech or body action. And then we realize it’s too late and repent the action later. This happens because although we know we must be aware, we haven’t taken adequate care and effort to be awakened to actually getting down to training our minds. We have become somewhat aware of the problem but we are not awakened about it to tackle it consistently enough. To be awakened about such a mind condition requires training which in turn requires hard work. But we seldom do it.
Our parents, friends and well-wishers may point out some hidden faults in us and we become aware of them. But despite being aware that we need to address those hidden faults, we chose to do nothing substantial about it, which is the same thing as not being awakened to it. It seems too much of an effort for somewhat ‘invisible’ gains.
On the other hand, we may regularly refer to all the internet sites or browse every book possible to add to our work related intelligence quotient. People come to know that you are ‘in the know of things’ and you can impress them with your acquired knowledge. So here we are aware of the repercussions of ‘lagging behind’ and by undertaking tedious work we are also awakened to the situation as it affects our ‘visible’ status in society.
Therefore, when it comes to matters which are purely worldly in nature we seem aware and awakened in doing something about it. However, in matters of the mind or in developing our metaphysical quotient we are often aware of what needs to be done but don’t easily get awakened about getting down to doing it with due diligence.
If we were to bring about generating awareness and awakening in living our lives, it would lead us to a better quality of life within and without.
The locality where i live in Pune, has an proactive residents forum wherefrom we take up civic issues with officials of various government bodies and elected representatives from time to time. The objective of this registered forum is simple and one pointed: to improve the quality of life of residents. So varied issues such as refuse collection, street lights operation, road surface quality, nuisance control and cleanliness, traffic streamlining and other such issues are taken up regularly. So formidable has this forum grown to be that civic officials actually respond to most matters in 24 hours.
However, there are a set of civilians, besides the incorrigible cynics, who never attend or even bother to voice the civic issues concerning them at this forum. They are well-educated, well heeled, concerned and aware of the issues too. They come across as friendly and social people too with good communication skills and intelligence. Then what is it that holds them back from participating? Through observation and a process of elimination, i came to a conclusion. An aware but an un-awakened mind.
Here is where the difference lies.
An aware mind is one that knows that a problem or issue exists but refuses to do anything about it. For example an overweight person with health issues may know that s/he is in suffering due to weight issues and can get to tackle this situation by, say, getting some exercise or bettering his/her eating habits. But instead chooses to remain in a state of inertia about it. The person is aware (about the existence of the problem) but not awakened to address it. Or a person may know that s/he gets angry easily with slightest provocation and this may have landed him/her into many difficult and embarrassing situations too, but yet takes no steps to calm and reign in the mind when such an emotion arises. Again, s/he is aware of the problem but not awakened to provide a solution to it to overcome it.
It is quite easy to be lazy. Laziness requires no effort. To be active requires effort. To identify a problem may be easy but to tide over it requires great resolve. Imagine if an animal in the forest knew it were hungry but refused to do anything about it! It would certainly perish. Or if we knew we are weak in a particular subject but choose not do anything about it before the exam would prove a certain disaster! Likewise, merely being aware of a problem does not solve it. It is the same difference as between: kuch karna hai (problem identification) vis-à-vis kuch kiya hai (problem redressal). While the former (awareness) is passive acceptance the latter (awakening) is active acceptance. This is the fundamental difference.
Likewise in the case of mind control. In an weak or distorted mind there are tempestuous thoughts and emotions arising every day. Some maybe virtuous but most are repetitive and harmful. Ofcourse, we are not so much concerned about the virtuous ones because they will bring us benefit but what about the others un-productive, vicious ones that constitute a majority, which by nature will bring upon us suffering? Then we say, I read somewhere that we should become aware of their arising and they will subside on their own. This is true. However, the real problem arises is getting down to doing it! Before we realize into becoming aware of their arising, they have already slipped past our vigilance and have raised their ugly head in the form of a speech or body action. And then we realize it’s too late and repent the action later. This happens because although we know we must be aware, we haven’t taken adequate care and effort to be awakened to actually getting down to training our minds. We have become somewhat aware of the problem but we are not awakened about it to tackle it consistently enough. To be awakened about such a mind condition requires training which in turn requires hard work. But we seldom do it.
Our parents, friends and well-wishers may point out some hidden faults in us and we become aware of them. But despite being aware that we need to address those hidden faults, we chose to do nothing substantial about it, which is the same thing as not being awakened to it. It seems too much of an effort for somewhat ‘invisible’ gains.
On the other hand, we may regularly refer to all the internet sites or browse every book possible to add to our work related intelligence quotient. People come to know that you are ‘in the know of things’ and you can impress them with your acquired knowledge. So here we are aware of the repercussions of ‘lagging behind’ and by undertaking tedious work we are also awakened to the situation as it affects our ‘visible’ status in society.
Therefore, when it comes to matters which are purely worldly in nature we seem aware and awakened in doing something about it. However, in matters of the mind or in developing our metaphysical quotient we are often aware of what needs to be done but don’t easily get awakened about getting down to doing it with due diligence.
If we were to bring about generating awareness and awakening in living our lives, it would lead us to a better quality of life within and without.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Meditation on the Move!
SPEAKING TREE, TOI, 26.07.2012
Sample these situations we often find ourselves in: Feeling bored waiting for the flight/train? Preferring to stay in the car while the spouse is shopping? Or awaiting the kids to call to be picked up when they’re finished with a birthday party? Or just chilling out. Here’s an anytime, anywhere experiment, to get into the insides of your mind.
Sit erect. It doesn’t matter if you prefer to keep your eyes closed or open. Either arrangement is okay, but for the beginner open eyes tend to distract. Breathe normally. Now, shift your attention to the mind. To begin, do nothing with it. Just let the dude be. But keep observing it un-distracted. Allow those rising thoughts to float in without giving any treatment to them. Every thought that arises, may or maynot be accompanied by an emotion. Doesn’t matter. Just observe. Your mind will tend to grasp the arising thought, chase it, build on it until this conceptualizing reaches a dead-end and falls. On reaching the dead end with nowhere else to go, the mind grasps on a new thought that arises and the mind goes on to chase this one. And this process goes on.
In a span of few minutes, depending on how hyper the mind has been, the never ceasing cycle of ‘arising-chasing-deadending-falling’ goes on and on. However, when you focus some more, you will also notice that as your observation towards the mind gets more intense, the arising of thoughts gets slower too. Much like the crystals of sugar settling down in a glass of water after a quick stir, observe this slowing down. You will begin to be amused with this observation.
This does not mean the mind has stopped taking on a next thought to launch another chase. Our observation has only slowed down the process. Now be attentive to observe further that between the passing of the previous thought and the arising of a new one, there exists a hair breadth of a gap that you might sense. A very fleeting one, but it does exist. It exists by itself in a pure, pristine, fresh, virgin and un-manipulated state. This is identified as the nature of our mind.
This is the gap you need to recognize and work on.
Try and get a hang of this gap that is pure, unaltered and in total awareness. Try to rest in this gap for as long as you can. Initially, this maybe possible only for a few seconds. Resting in this gap even for a few moments, one feels peaceful and refreshed. This is our Buddha mind itself! Nothing else, but prolonging this recognition for as long as you can, is meditation. In Tibetan Buddhist texts this ‘gap’ is referred to as, rigpa, ( pronounced ‘reejpa’). “If you are in an unaltered state, it is Rigpa”, says Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, a great master of Tibetan Buddhism of the 20th century.
With repeated practice of this simple ‘anytime-anywhere’ method of generating awareness, it is easily possible to familiarize ourselves with our base mind, otherwise clouded by all sorts of delusions and defilements. How cool is that?
PS: It is advised not to try this after consuming alcohol simply because as the nature of alcohol is to confuse, the recognition will be difficult and what you will experience instead is a dull, dark and ‘grey’ state, which is certainly not our true nature. And yes, for the safety of yourself and the family, not to be tried by beginners during driving too!
Friday, April 15, 2011
POSITIVE KARMIC DEPOSITS - WHAT AN INVESTMENT!
THE SPEAKING TREE, ToI, 26.04.2011
Whether anyone believes in it or not, the fact is that we all have an after life. Its scientific explanation is logical too. Just as matter cannot be created nor be destroyed but merely transformed into another form, just the same way, our body after our passing away from this life, is transformed into another form. It would be a misconception to believe that there is an end, a finality to our lives. It is not so. There is just transformation. It is proven in Buddhist tantric experiments that the natural elements of nature (earth, wind, fire, water, space) have the qualities of the mind and also support vital systems of our body functions. It is also proven with logic and proof that there is continuity of our mind from one birth to another. You may have heard of real-life instances where a child quite naturally yet vividly remembers the place of birth and some of the critical happenings of his/her past life. Therefore, there is direct linkage of the elements to our psycho-physical state. There is no doubt about this in minds of Buddhist practitioners.
So if we can conclude that there is afterlife, the natural question that arises is: What kind of births can we take?
Again according to Buddhist teachings there are six realms in which we can be re-born. Hell, Pretas (Hungry ghosts), Animals, Human, Asuras (Demi-gods) and god realms. It is not to say that there are different worlds that we are born in or anything like that. First the bad news. All these countless rebirths from beginningless time are the direct effect of our afflicted emotions. The reason for being born in these realms is driven by the resulting karmic accumulations. For eg: Being born in the hell realm is due to our afflicted emotions of hatred, being born as hungry ghosts is due to greed, envy/jealousy leads us to birth in the asura realm, pride into the god realm, confusion as animals and ignorance as humans beings. Even for those born in god realm, there is intense suffering as the good effect that has given them this birth will be worn out someday and they will have to be reborn in lower realms. This is because they are not in a position to accumulate anymore good karma nor clean their accumulated bad ones, being in a state of mental blankness. Now the good news. It is birth only in the human realm - with its freedoms and advantages of being born with intact sense faculties at a place where dharma teachings can be obtained (quite obsolete in this internet era!) and with the right intent and faith – that spiritual trajectory and therefore possibility of good re-birth is possible.
So what does this mean? It simply means that if we wish to be born in higher realm we can undertake practices in this human life to achieve the end we want. We can tweak the stacked up causes before us to our advantage to have the desired good effect. And these practices essentially lead us to doing good deeds of body, speech and mind, in the process accumulating deposits of good karma in our spiritual bank account.
It is a good thing to accumulate good karma by doing good deeds in a non-conceptualized manner i.e. without an ulterior motive of personal gain or gratification or to show-off. However, the true fruit of this merit is deposited into your account only after such deeds are dedicated to the wellness and Buddhahood of every sentient being. While it is good to increase the ‘bank balance’ in this way and add to the credit side, it is of significance to keep an eye on the debit side of the entries as well! These debits have been there over lifetimes and we may not even remember when and how we have accumulated them. Therefore, to undertake guided practices to negate our bad karma accumulations is critical too for a healthy balance sheet.
Finally, there has to be a constant vigil on debit and credit side, it needs to be a sustained practice all the time in this human life, if we desire to get good rebirth which clearly all of us want.
What better investment can we think of in this materially driven world than investing in the mother of all investments, where accomplishment and returns are guaranteed. The investment in good karmic deposits! The perfect solution to a peaceful, happy and terrific quality of life here and ahead!
Go ahead friends, choose your lives!
Whether anyone believes in it or not, the fact is that we all have an after life. Its scientific explanation is logical too. Just as matter cannot be created nor be destroyed but merely transformed into another form, just the same way, our body after our passing away from this life, is transformed into another form. It would be a misconception to believe that there is an end, a finality to our lives. It is not so. There is just transformation. It is proven in Buddhist tantric experiments that the natural elements of nature (earth, wind, fire, water, space) have the qualities of the mind and also support vital systems of our body functions. It is also proven with logic and proof that there is continuity of our mind from one birth to another. You may have heard of real-life instances where a child quite naturally yet vividly remembers the place of birth and some of the critical happenings of his/her past life. Therefore, there is direct linkage of the elements to our psycho-physical state. There is no doubt about this in minds of Buddhist practitioners.
So if we can conclude that there is afterlife, the natural question that arises is: What kind of births can we take?
Again according to Buddhist teachings there are six realms in which we can be re-born. Hell, Pretas (Hungry ghosts), Animals, Human, Asuras (Demi-gods) and god realms. It is not to say that there are different worlds that we are born in or anything like that. First the bad news. All these countless rebirths from beginningless time are the direct effect of our afflicted emotions. The reason for being born in these realms is driven by the resulting karmic accumulations. For eg: Being born in the hell realm is due to our afflicted emotions of hatred, being born as hungry ghosts is due to greed, envy/jealousy leads us to birth in the asura realm, pride into the god realm, confusion as animals and ignorance as humans beings. Even for those born in god realm, there is intense suffering as the good effect that has given them this birth will be worn out someday and they will have to be reborn in lower realms. This is because they are not in a position to accumulate anymore good karma nor clean their accumulated bad ones, being in a state of mental blankness. Now the good news. It is birth only in the human realm - with its freedoms and advantages of being born with intact sense faculties at a place where dharma teachings can be obtained (quite obsolete in this internet era!) and with the right intent and faith – that spiritual trajectory and therefore possibility of good re-birth is possible.
So what does this mean? It simply means that if we wish to be born in higher realm we can undertake practices in this human life to achieve the end we want. We can tweak the stacked up causes before us to our advantage to have the desired good effect. And these practices essentially lead us to doing good deeds of body, speech and mind, in the process accumulating deposits of good karma in our spiritual bank account.
It is a good thing to accumulate good karma by doing good deeds in a non-conceptualized manner i.e. without an ulterior motive of personal gain or gratification or to show-off. However, the true fruit of this merit is deposited into your account only after such deeds are dedicated to the wellness and Buddhahood of every sentient being. While it is good to increase the ‘bank balance’ in this way and add to the credit side, it is of significance to keep an eye on the debit side of the entries as well! These debits have been there over lifetimes and we may not even remember when and how we have accumulated them. Therefore, to undertake guided practices to negate our bad karma accumulations is critical too for a healthy balance sheet.
Finally, there has to be a constant vigil on debit and credit side, it needs to be a sustained practice all the time in this human life, if we desire to get good rebirth which clearly all of us want.
What better investment can we think of in this materially driven world than investing in the mother of all investments, where accomplishment and returns are guaranteed. The investment in good karmic deposits! The perfect solution to a peaceful, happy and terrific quality of life here and ahead!
Go ahead friends, choose your lives!
Friday, April 8, 2011
INDIA (WINS) AGAINST CORRUPTION!
STEPS:
1. GOVERNMENT ARROGANTLY INDIFFERENT TO CITIZENS' CALL TO PASS STRONG LAW AGAINST RAMPANT CORRUPTION
2. CITIZENS BUILD PRESSURE LED BY GANDHIAN ANNA HAZARE WHO GOES ON INDEFINITE FAST
3. NATIONWIDE PROTESTS OVER 200 CITIES/TOWNS OVER FOUR DAYS FORCES GOVERNMENT ON ITS KNEES
4. GOVERNMENT RELENTS...AGREES TO ALL DEMANDS.(8/9TH APRIL)
5. PROFESSIONALS PARTY OF INDIA (PPI) LEADS ALONGSIDE IAC IN PUNE AND MUMBAI. CORE GROUP MEMBERS TRAVEL TO DELHI TO BE ALONGSIDE ANNA AND TEAM ON 5TH APRIL
BOTTOM LINE:
MIDDLE CLASS FINDS ITS VOICE...AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, DISCOVERS ITSELF AGAIN!
JAI HIND.
1. GOVERNMENT ARROGANTLY INDIFFERENT TO CITIZENS' CALL TO PASS STRONG LAW AGAINST RAMPANT CORRUPTION
2. CITIZENS BUILD PRESSURE LED BY GANDHIAN ANNA HAZARE WHO GOES ON INDEFINITE FAST
3. NATIONWIDE PROTESTS OVER 200 CITIES/TOWNS OVER FOUR DAYS FORCES GOVERNMENT ON ITS KNEES
4. GOVERNMENT RELENTS...AGREES TO ALL DEMANDS.(8/9TH APRIL)
5. PROFESSIONALS PARTY OF INDIA (PPI) LEADS ALONGSIDE IAC IN PUNE AND MUMBAI. CORE GROUP MEMBERS TRAVEL TO DELHI TO BE ALONGSIDE ANNA AND TEAM ON 5TH APRIL
BOTTOM LINE:
MIDDLE CLASS FINDS ITS VOICE...AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, DISCOVERS ITSELF AGAIN!
JAI HIND.
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