Uniting

Uniting is an inner journey.

Going towards what makes us similar.

To what makes us the same.

Not back and forth.

Not you or I.

Us.

We.

Joining.

Not physically.

Not even mentally.

Not even with the hearts.

By simply letting go.

Dissolving our selves.

Back into Oneness.

And then ...

Returning outward.

Imbued and
infused and
inspired and
energized
by that Oneness.

prati sancaraḥ

sancaraḥ

Sequences of awareness

It is very simple.

Whatever we feel physically, 

without words or thoughts,

is Reality as-is for us.

Physical Reality is not static, 

because physical sensations 

keep coming in.

Whatever we feel mentally is also 

Reality as-is for us, 

again if there are no words or thoughts. [1]

That Reality is also 

a continuous flow,

manifesting 

from subtler levels 

to your current mental level,

to your current subtlety of awareness,

of attention. [1]

As soon as 

words and concepts and 

ideas and beliefs and 

biases and cravings, and so on 

come into play, 

your mind has taken 

something flowing,

continuously, and 

converted it,

approximated it,

distorted it,

into 

something 

static and 

limited and 

measured.

Fooling around 

with words 

is useless 

for self-realisation.

Simply practise first - 
feel 
the inside first, 
the super-conscious first, 
the super-subtle first.

Let the emotional mind 
quieten down and 
become peaceful.

Then open your eyes and 
feel the outside 
through incoming sensations 
for the rest of the day.

Just stay with feeling 
with the still mind.

Then becoming happens. [2]

Experiencing, 

transforming to 

the next subtler mental level 
happens.

Then being at that level happens.

Enjoying and 

discovering and 

expanding, 

deeper and wider,

happens.

Then you lose awareness 

of that level and 

objects of that level as 
something new, 
something different.

Then that level is negated.

Attention is able to go, 

to shift to,

to the next subtler causal level.

Again by 
feeling and 
becoming and 
being 
to go to the next level.

Again nothingness as 
novelty, newness, differences 
fade away 
with familiarity and use.

Now you can describe or 
think about the previous lower level, 
the less subtle level.

At this subtler level, 
your thinking cannot 
corrupt or 
bias or 
filter sensations 
at the earlier grosser or 

denser level. [3]

You can see or describe 
that level more clearly.

This journey is infinite 
because 
the mind can, in a sense, 
become subtler and subtler 
infinitely.

But words are still unnecessary.

Just feel and 
become and 
be and 
negate.

And go about your daily 
spiritual and 
material activities,
your inner and 
outer activities,
with a still emotional mind, 
without emotional, egoistic reactivity, 
without emotional turbulence.

And you will 
resonate, 
synchronise, and 
empathize or 
simply feel 
differently.

Please note that this is a continuous process.

Thus:

feeling,
becoming,
being,
negating or nothingness [4]
is a more appropriate description.

Is it such a simple, linear sequence?

Grossest/densest, subtler, subtler, subtler, ..., subtlest?

No. There's much more nuance in the spiritual journey.

But it's a good, practical, 

useful, and comforting approximation. 

And way more helpful than 

the sharply-contrasting 

dualistic and judgemental 

transcendental/cosmic perspective vs. 

individualistic perspective 

of advaita!

NOTES

[1] Ignoring inner inputs from memory, which is again stored, from the past, limited and limiting representations or residues, triggers of the past experiences.

[2] Becoming also happens in meditation as the attention moves to a subtler level. That is, one can become consciously aware of that level.

[3] A bit like a highly sensitive ammeter minimally affects or reduces the current flowing through, while still showing its measurement. But the measuring mind has shifted, as if ffrom physical energy to a different energy.

[4] Daaji's sequence - thinking to feeling to becoming to being to nothingness. He doesn't emphasise the recursive or repetitive nature of the states, and nothingness is also presented as the final state cosmologically.

Brain training for inner states

Sahaj Marg/Heartfulness does not need intellectual understanding. It's as simple as that.

It also doesn't need stress or coercion.

It does need one's own validation. That can be stressful if one is not used to it or prefers to rely on others' guidance.

The language in Heartfulness is silence.

Vibrational silence.

The human brain can understand the difference in vibrations of different mental states, but it takes training - repetition, depth, and breadth of those states.

Many things can throw off the brain and mind while this training is going on.

The simplest problem is trying to verbalise and conceptualise too quickly. That is a higher level  --well-nigh impossible-- activity for animal brains, but a lower level activity for human brains with respect to subtler states.

From Babuji's "Can a crane pick up a needle?" comes an elegant, consistent explanation for how silence and words fit together, but at different vibratory levels.

>>>>
[Aside on attention, especially outer attention]

Attention is used as a technique and topic of discussion in Sufism.

Taking it, asking for it, rejecting it, refusing it, giving it. 

On top of simple attention 

is layered 

one's ego, 

one's emotions, 

one's words, words, and more words.

A silent hug is first and foremost simple physical attention, appeasing and soothing a stressed brain and heart. When the hugger's heart is open to the silent flow from within of love, peace, and joy, and the hugger allows them to manifest through the physical contact, there is even more compassion and spiritual progress.
<<<<

Abhyasis are requested to be simple, honest, to respond from the heart. Moment by moment. Staying in the present.

What may be unsaid or not understood is the opposite - letting go of the past, the emotional and egoic patterns and activities that maintain the false and artificial images of oneself and of others.

How to let go?

Meditation, cleaning, prayer, sittings, satsanghs. 

All inner and silent work, mind you.

Why is Daaji so serious about the daily practice of abhyasis?

These simple techniques remove many lifetimes of mind and brain training in misunderstanding - avidyā. And they have to be done quickly because the outside world is careening to outer destruction due to our inner chaos.

But the techniques have to be applied first, 

not  understood first. Why? See above for brain training.

One's own brain training by subtle vibrations at one level 

allows for one's own conceptualising - of a lower level of vibrations. Till that training is reasonably complete, 

one must simply practise and feel without words. [1]

All of the heart region levels (p1-p5) must be transcended before the mind and brain can even think about them properly. Again, simply do and practise and do so trustfully, happily, repeatedly.

Brain and heart training in inner vibrations require different physical contexts - solo context, paired context, and group context. The three are complementary and mandatory.

Too serious?

The problem is not 

the difficulty of the techniques, 

but the lack of priority given to them 

because they are 

too simple, 

too easy to get distracted away from, and 

have too little outside coercion. 

And until sensitivity develops,

from training or repeated immersion 

in subtler states, 

the effects are boring 

compared to 

the usual outside inputs.

And how would 

brain learning or training work 

when there is 

no inner input data, and

no subtler vibrational states?

avidyā or misunderstanding, unwisdom, 

is one's own, not anyone else's. 

The lack of training of one's own brain.

vidyā is also one's own understanding, 

one's own sensitised and transformed brain. 

How can that happen 

without one's own practice?

Prioritising your practice 

is your own problem.

Nobody else can 

do it for you or 

make you do it 

without mental or physical coercion.

And would outside coercion gel 

with inner opening up?

Heartfulness practice 

must be done 

peacefully, 

carefully and 

tenderly, even affectionately,

respectfully, 

joyously,

of one's own free will.

And with increasing understanding from 

more and more inner peace,

subtler and subtler 

vibratory levels of 

inner silence.

And what's the alternative to "too serious"?

Continuing to 

train the brain and 

mind to look outward, 

at others, 

at inputs from outside,

at outer inputs.

That may still be OK 

if the brain is

subjected not to words, 

just to sensations.

Once layers of 

words and concepts and 

emotions and physical appearances 

start flooding in, 

guess what happens to brain training 

for silence and inner vibrations?

NOTES

[1] How about diary writing or journalling? 

Aren't words necessary there from the beginning? 

True. 

But imply note down - using words that comes up immediately and without editing - all the details you remember, without interpretation or analysis. It will show very clearly how limiting words, even thoughts, can be when trying to describe inner experiences.

pibare rāma rasam, sarvam brahma mayam

There lived a Brahman-intoxicated saint -

sadaśivendra sarasvati or sadaśiva brahmendra.

He imbibed Brahman.

Nay, Brahman flowed through all his sensors.

He exuded Brahman.

Nay, Brahman flowed through all his effectors.

What is the essence of Lord Rama? Indeed of God?

Brahman. Allah. Ik Onkar. Jehovah.

YHWH the unnameable - beyond words and thoughts.

Peace and freedom that surpasseth all understanding. 

For how can inability to understand be described in thoughts or words?

The essence of all religions and yet, their living, dynamic presence.

And how does such an intoxicated one sing of his intoxication?

sarvaṁ brahma mayaṁ,
re re,
sarvaṁ brahma mayaṁ

everything, everywhere, every-when is
  filled, infused, drunk, drowned
    in Brahman,
O! O!,
everything, everywhere, every-when is
  filled, infused, drunk, drowned
    in Brahman

OR

pibare rama rasaṁ,
rasane,
pibare rama rasaṁ

drink, imbibe, consume, drown
in Rama's essence,
o tongue,
drink, imbibe, consume, drown

How can it be otherwise?

Everything, everywhere, every-when
emanates, manifests from it, through it,
lives, breathes, acts in and by it, and
dissolves, unmanifests, returns to it.

And what happens to one drowned in Brahman, Rama's essence, intoxicated by the love of that presence?

dūri kṛta pātaka saṃsargaṁ

[That presence] distances (causes distancing or detachment)

From what?

From that mixture or residue causing heaviness or grossness - your manifestation at grosser levels.

From saṁskāras, in other words. And so taking one back to the subtler levels of Brahman.

purita nana vidha phala vargaṁ

[And] fills [you with] uncountable types [of] fruit varieties

With unending, uncountable blissful inner experiencing, from grossest to subtlest.

[Not experiences or memories of them, such residues will again weigh down]

janana maraṇa bhaya śoka vidūraṁ

birth-death fear-sorrow distancing

Would not someone so intoxicated with the presence of that which causes birth-living-dying lose the fear of dying? 

Of being born anew? 

And lose their sorrow at living?

sakala śāstra nigama-āgama sāraṁ

all scriptures, laws, ethics - essence [of]

[When] the essence, the source of all revelation, scripture, law, ethical principle is a living presence within someone, would there be any fear or sorrow?

paripālita sarasija garbha-aṇḍaṁ

prime protector [of] lotus-emanated womb [of the featureless] cosmos

parama pavitrī-kṛta pāṣāṇḍaṁ

supreme purifier [agent of purification, distillation] [of] heresy [wordly-mindedness, gross-minded]

[That presence] lovingly supports, protects, looks after everything - 

from barely manifest unity, 
to taking back

to the state of ultimate purity 
even those who are heavy with fear and sorrow, 
the separated, multifarious, materialistic - 
those who know to look only at the grosser, 

not the subtler.

That presence within takes care of all, 
from the subtlest possible 

to the grossest possible, 
with affection, 
without discrimination. 

Manifestation is supported, 
as also unmanifestation. 
Not control - care, concern.

śuddha parama-haṃsa āśrama gītaṁ

pure supreme-subtilizers' [swans who imbibe only milk in watered milk] refuge [solace] song

This song is both a refuge and solace for imbibers of, and drunk on, Brahman - Reality, Truth, the subtlest - alone. For those who take in or perceive Brahman, the essence, in everything.

śuka śaunaka kauśika mukha pītaṁ

Shuka, Shaunaka, Kaushika face/mouth/front/favourite drink

Favourite drink of Shuka, Shaunaka, and Kaushika [Vishvamitra?] - famous brahma-rishis.

>>>><<<<

The rest of sarvaṁ brahma mayaṁ is equally inspiring, but from a very different, more abstract perspective.

kiṃ vacanīyaṁ,

kiṃ a-vacanīyaṁ

 

What is speak-able?

What is un-speak-able?
 

kiṃ racanīyaṁ,

kiṃ a-racanīyaṁ

 

What is express-ible?         [express-able]

What is in-express-ible?    [un-express-able]

 

kiṃ paṭhanīyaṁ
kiṃ a-paṭhanīyaṁ

 

What is study-able?            [understand-able]
What is non-study-able?  [un-understand-able]
 

kiṃ bhajanīyaṁ
kiṃ a-bhajanīyaṁ

What is worship-able?
What is un-worship-able?

kiṃ boddhavyaṁ
kiṃ a-boddhavyaṁ

 

What is enlightened?

What is un-enlightened?

kiṃ bhoktavyaṁ
kiṃ a-bhoktavyaṁ

What is experience-able?
What is non-experience-able?

sarvatra sadA hamsa dhyAnaṁ
kartavyaṁ bhO mukti nidAnaṁ

everywhere, every-when [do] swan [subtilizer] meditation

duty, oh, freedom [from], causes [creates]

This swan meditation, [flowing] always and everywhere, gives freedom from duty (karmic-residue, samskaras).

Wheel hub and rim analogy - notes

Consider a spinning wheel.

The wheel rim is

- very active, and has a

- higher linear speed, due to

- greater linear distance/same time

- when going from hub outward towards rim

At the wheel hub is

- lesser linear speed due to

- lesser linear distance/same time

   going inward, towards the centre.

At the ideal, exact, centre of the wheel hub,

the linear speed is zero.

Ontologically, the same category 

- same physical wheel, with

- different parts or locations

Now split the analogy 

into two categories:

- physical

- psychological

Physically, 

any amount or degree of activity, 

either high speed or zero speed.

Psychologically, laminar 

- non-turbulent -

peaceful flow. 

Better understood as 

psychological stillness 

- emotional thoughtlessness - 

since it is not in a physical realm.

Psychological peace, 

emotional unstressed-ness, 

is different from, and 

orthogonal to, 

physical activity.

So, as an analogy, 

two points are important 

in the wheel hub-rim analogy - 

physical direction 

(towards rim or towards centre) and 

physical speed.

But,

psychological stillness or peace 

at the physical hub versus

psychological speed, 

or better, turbulence 

at the physical rim - 

still mind vs. chaotic mind - 

are not the conclusions 

to draw

from the analogy.

Instead, the desired psychological state 

- a peaceful mind - 

should be the same

at all points on the physical wheel.

To take an extreme example, 

the Bhagavad Gita says that 

kshatriyas may even kill 

as part of 

their necessary activities/duties -

without karmic consequences -

if they are able 

to surrender their agency 

(be without egoism) 

to the Lord and 

stay psychologically unstressed. [1][2]

A very difficult achievement, per Babuji!

But Babuji also explicitly refuted 

the "turn the other cheek" tenet 

by advising a slap back!

Thus, psychological stillness, yes, 

but amidst both

physical inactivity and 

intense physical activity.

NOTES

[1] A similar lesson is in the vyādha gīta.

[2] Nazis claimed they were innocent of 

      genocide as they were only following orders.

      But, such activities were not dharmic. 

      Also they were humanly, not divinely, ordained. 

      And, of course, the Nazis could have had no psychological peace.

No magic

No magic.

Relinquish mental chatter, mind and brain abuse. 

Start acting from silent heart impulses.

Natural detachment from

mental, 

verbal 

I-me-mine --

results - vairāgya.

Feel more, 

think less. 

Practise - abhyāsa - 

until 

continuously feeling, 

no thinking.

Practice then continues effortlessly.

Really? No thinking?

No emotional thinking, 

no subjective self-created thinking,

no I-based thinking.

Brain stops fruitless, tiring activity. 

Peace from pause, stillness.

Discrimination - viveka - builds.

Life flows.

Flowing breath, flowing love

Love flows

- through -
without targets,

without discrimination.

Much like

simple breathing.

One doesn't 
breathe 
at

somebody.

One simply 
breathes -
in and

out.

The same flow, 

flooding and

ebbing.

Speech - 
audible verbal breath - 
controls, 
complicates,
layers,
simple natural breathing.

The living breathing,
breathing of the living.

Loving an other
verbalises,
aims,
controls, 
complicates
the simple natural flow of love.

The living love-flow,
flowing love of the living.

Separated, separative flows

go
outward, 
to the grosser.

United, uniting flows 
go

inward, 
to the subtler.

Love flows.

Breath flows.

Expand the awareness.

You are - right now - a flow of breath.

Your day is a single continuous flow of breath.

Your entire life is a flow of breath.

All breathing humans - a combined flow of breath.

All breathing creatures 
together 

a shared flow
as a breathing planet,
each creature -
   emanating, 
   living, 
   loving, and 
   dying - 
in an ocean of living breath.

Now think of love -

a living flow -
the same way.

Flowing.

Flowing

across,

through,

around
all breathing and

un-breathing creatures,
the entire planet,
the universe,
all space.

Living love

flowing 
across,

through,

around
all time.

[The drop in the ocean,
  the ocean in the drop.
  ~Lalaji]

Open-eyed cleaning

All theory
about interaction
with others
is intellectual.

The easiest way
to become
peaceful and
unstressed
is to surrender and
do your spiritual practice
effectively.

Do you know for yourself
that you have changed and
how you have changed
after every meditation,
after every cleaning,
after every prayer?

Every event in a day is cleaning.

Once you can clean effectively
with closed eyes,
start doing the same thing
with open eyes.

Watch as you become
lighter and lighter
after an event.
Purer and purer.
Simpler and simpler.

But that is possible
only if you feel
those three
after every cleaning.

What happens
in cleaning is
unwinding
what is stored.

What happens
in the event is
unwinding again
but also
new winding.

If you do
the same thing
during an event
that you do
during cleaning,
fresh winding
will not happen.

Also, unwinding will be
successful.

Here you have to
simply trust
your inner Master
until you become
sensitive enough
to feel it
palpably.

Sensitivity
comes with
interest
in yourself,
in your spiritual growth.
[~Daaji, paraphrased]

It is very simple.

Let the
impurities,
grossness, and
complexities
go without
paying attention
to them.

Pay attention instead
to the changes within you

-- purer, lighter, simpler --
as those things are
going out.

Most of
the spiritual work and
activity
is outside
your conscious
awareness.

As you clean,
pray, and
meditate,
the boundaries
of your consciousness
expand.

"Down" into the
subconscious and
unconscious.

"Up" into the
superconscious.

Use
that expanded
consciousness
every day.

Your unwinding
becomes
better, faster.

Every event.

Every encounter with
every person -
there is some cleaning
happening.

[Even reading this!]

Trust your higher self.

Trust your inner Master.

Don't try,
don't strain.

You can break through
without trying.
 

No, not "trying",
don't put
"effort"
into observation.

The only effort
needed is
to shift
your attention.

Observing others
without judging
is a strain.

Observe only
yourself.

When observing
yourself
without judging
is a strain,
observe

the inner self,
or its proxy,
your heart.

Then observation
becomes
simple feeling,
simple experiencing.

Silence.

Amidst activity.

Peace.

Light, life, love, understanding beneath my layers

Keeping this in mind as a base may be helpful:

>>>>
There is a light within.
That light is occluded.
Removing the occlusions is my work.
Then the light works naturally.
<<<<

(Whether the light is physical, mental, intellectual, etc. is irrelevant to me.

When I do the practice cheerfully and carefully, tangible naturalness results.)

Light of understanding
My misunderstandings
Remove my misunderstandings
Understanding or clarity results

Divine light
My overlying clouds
Remove my clouds
Divine light works as it should

Divine love
My ego, my overlying likes and dislikes
Remove them
Divine love flows unobstructed, unfiltered, unbiased, simply

Life
My layers - egoistic, emotional, intellectual
Remove my layers
Life "flows" naturally

Lightning evolution

Imagine being hit by lightning.

Your physical body

cannot handle 

the mega-amperes of

electric current and

it burns up.

Now imagine that, 

somehow, say through 

kundalini practices and awakening,

you become physically able 

to handle the titanic surge
of electromagnetic energy. 

Your brain changes as well and 

intellectual,

artistic, and 

emotional 

insights and abilities

open up.

Now you may go around 

searching for 

lightning strikes or 

similar high-power phenomena 

to evolve.

This is lightning evolution by

outside or outer circumstances.

 

Now imagine 

an energetic inner counterpart to 

natural lightning in the sky. 

Those strikes may again be picked up 

after sufficient kundalini practices and 

again change you 

physically and mentally.

This is lightning evolution by

inside or inner circumstances.

 

Imagine now 

a pre-energetic aspect 

to the inner lightning strikes. 

They can be picked up 

internally but mentally, 

when one's attention is 

sufficiently

expansive,

subtle, and 

swift.

 

This subtilization happens

by meditating

on something

infinite and

incredibly dynamic,

even swifter than

mental lightning!

Here, 

even without practices 

to change the body

physiologically or

energetically, 

one is able to 

catch lightning strikes

mentally.

 

Catching mental, 

non-physical,

yet material lightning strikes

can still cause changes in the 

energetic and 

physical layers or 

kośas (prāṇamaya and

annamaya).

 

Next consider

inner lightning 

--a time-bound event-- 

as a grosser manifestation of 

inner sunshine 

--eternally bright.

 

What level of inner subtlety 

would be needed 

to sustain that 

continuous brightness?

And finally, imagine 

a potentiality, 

a nothingness, 

from which 

that sunshine, 

and in turn, 

that lightning 

arises. 

 

Not darkness, 

but greyness, 

black with just a faint hint 

of brightness.

 

What would be the 

mental or

intellectual level 

needed 

to feel and 

understand 

that?

In sum, one sequence of evolution is the ability to withstand or apprehend:

1. physical lightning
2. psychic lightning
3. mental lightning
4. mental sunshine
5. mental potentiality/nothingness
   

Starting from 5. should develop capacity to withstand 4-3. Perhaps it also develops capacity to withstand 4-1, too?

NOTES

 

1. Lightning and sunshine analogy inspired by (but inverted from!) Sri Aurobindo's  Levels of Mind/Consciousness. C.f. Fig.2. The Vertical System - Levels of Consciousness and later explanations in the online Our Many Selves - Practical Yogic Psychology

 

2. "Darkness to light, light to grey" is from Babuji.  He may have been referring to wisdom as light, and omniscience as potential which manifests into actual wisdom as needed.

3. Consider also Babuji's increasingly subtle sequence of matter to energy to absolute, and the increasingly grosser sequence of manasa-vāca-karmaṇa (thought-word-action).

Continuous learning

Learn.

Unlearn.

Learn 
continuously, 
eagerly, 
even enthusiastically, 
about 
the mechanical and 
technological aspects of 
your inner and 
outer worlds.

Unlearn 

the emotional and 

egoistic 

aspects of life.

Why unlearn these aspects?

Storing them, 
regurgitating them, 
building illusory layers,
drain brain energy and 
physiological energy 

(with stress hormones, e.g.),
causing suffering.

Just as one 
cleans, 
maintains, 
repairs, or even 
discards 
physical tools, 
one keeps 
one's inner tools -
mind, ego, and intellect -
free of impurities, 
complexities, and 
grossness 
for optimal learning 

through the
rapidity,
expansiveness, and
subtlety 

of response to

events.

Love is 
a lubricant, 
a microscope, 
a telescope, 
a fuel.

Individual love is 
stored, 
limited, 
exhaustible, 
rationed.

Divine love flows
inexhaustibly and 
incessantly,
but it can be blocked
just by individual 
mental, 
egoistic, 
intellectual 
closing.

Enough individuals 

closing their hearts, 
divine love cannot flow
through and
around them.

Enough reopening, 
divine love flows again.

Life is 

a moment by moment 

flowing.

The mind, the ego, the intellect - 
the instruments or 

modes 

of consciousness - 

sample,
block, 
dam, 
redirect, and 
make turbulent 
the flow of life.

That happens 
when instruments become 
more important 
than consciousness or 
life.

Hone 

all instruments and 

learn - 

for the joy and

love 

of learning. 

A little 

unstressed 

learning 

every day

in one life 

adds up 

tremendously.

Imagine 

continuous 

unending 

learning 

in all fields

across 

an infinity of lives.

Now imagine 

how much time and 

energy is being 

wasted!

Choices

Limited OR unlimited

Individual one OR infinite one, infinity

Separatedness OR oneness

Few relationships OR infinite relationships

Few to many humans OR all humans

Self-awareness OR self-forgetfulness

n=1, 1000, 1 million, ..., 1 trillion, ... OR just uncounted infinity, no n at all

Expand to larger and larger limits OR be unlimited

Individual, group, many groups OR wholeness

Dividing and trying to rejoin OR not dividing at all

Analysis and synthesis OR simple, natural acceptance, and doing

Manifested many OR unmanifest none

Separation OR union

Outward OR inward

Choosing OR being