Saturday, August 18, 2012

Is Bliss there?

And there in the depths of the hell of cynicism
The former idealist wondered, if the utopian heaven was but another illusion

Whether his mind now exposed to the morally reprehensible
Can ever find belief in the strength of a high moral position

Can a dirty cloth be truly cleaned,
A broken mirror be cleanly rejoined

Is darkness the eternal reality
Or but time's ephemeral triviality

Is there a dawn, is there light, is there God, is Bliss there?
And all a man requires is a leap of Faith to reach there?

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Believe in God

Physicists haven't understood the mysteries of universe
Neuroscientists still find the brain & mind an enigma
The outside is not clear, the inside is not clear
Yet we dont believe in God, though ridden by fear.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Psychoanalysis of Desire

Ref. Gita 2.62-63

Here desire (kama) is defined as arising out of an attachment to some object, want for it gives rise to greed (lobha) and denial of it gives rise to anger (krodha).

I would like to elaborate this concept of desire more. Desire is of two types IMHO - static & dynamic. Dynamic is the desire which wants to possess objects one doesn't have, Static is the desire to maintain possession of what one has. This static desire gives rise to even greater krodha than dynamic desire. Another very important emotion involved because of static desire is "fear" - one fears loss of possessions. Then when one is separated from one's possessions, it potentially can give rise to anger. For e.g. if someone were to humiliate you in front of a lot of people, then one is shorn of one's key possession - prestige, honor and that gives rise to anger. When one finds his position helpless, anger gives way to sorrow and dejection. From this arises the desire for revenge, which then evolves into higher complexes like obsession etc.

Dynamic Desire ---> Greed to get----> Anger when one doesn't get
Static Desire ----> Fear of Loss
Static Desire----> Anger on losing the object----> Sorrow when one is helpless and can't prevent the loss

Ego (Ahamkara), of course, is the root cause of all desires. When one sees oneself as separate, as a separate "I", then one wants to relate with objects outside. This causes attachment (sanga), which leads to desires (kama).

Bhagavad Gita says that lose your Ego by recognizing the Supreme Lord in all beings and recognizing the Supreme Lord within oneself

"Sarva bhutastham atmanam, sarvatra sama darshanah
Yo mam pasyati sarvatra, sarvam cha mayi pasyati
Tasyam cha pranasyami sa cha me na pranasyati"

"He who sees Me everywhere, and sees everything in Me,
to him I am never lost, and he is never lost to Me"

Parts of Gita 6.29-30 as translated by Swami Krishnananda

Then the question emerges in the enquirer's mind, like an Arjuna as to how would he go about killing enemies at war, when he is supposed to see God in them.

This is partly answered in the 2nd chapter and also in later chapters. In the 2nd chapter the concept of soul or atman is explained and the Lord tells Arjuna that the "soul never kills, nor is killed. it's only the body that perishes". So Arjuna is not really killing anyone or acruing any "papa" by desireless action. The other part, as explained in later chapters is that Arjuna has to discharge duties as per his svadharma, offering everything to God, surrendering to God, without any desire for fruits for himself. he is but a devoted instrument of God, doing what is expected of him, as per his Nature (makeup of Gunas)

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Preliminary to Meditation

There is no point doing meditation to find peace, without first calming the mind. Meditating with an unsettled mind is like surfing in a raging ocean. Now one would argue - isn't that what meditation supposed to do - calm the mind; how then can it be said that a calm mind is a precursor for meditation.

The answer is that attaining mental peace and calm is a long process and meditation is one albeit an important stage in it. The propounders of Yoga system of thought have given eight stages of attaining Kaivalya or Ultimate Liberation. Some of these eight stages can be concurrent, however you cannot start (according to them) unless the first 2-3 stages are successfully passed. These are Yama, Niyama followed by Asana.

What are these first two stages. They are nothing but following a proper code of conduct socially and preliminary internal purification of mind. One has to gain some basic level of control over mind so as not to give in/overindulge in physiological impulses like gluttony, sexual drive, uncleanliness, anger etc.

If a person is obsessed with infatuation for beloved, or if he harbors hatred for someone or some people - his mind will be naturally turbulent. Such a mind is not amenable to meditation, concentration etc without dissolving these emotions. People who are slaves to their senses and mind find it repeatedly difficult to gather their thoughts inward in one direction & meditate over the lord or Supreme Idea.