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]

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!

Understanding Sahaj Marg/The Heartfulness Way practices

(Disclaimer: This is my personal understanding and so not to be taken as official Sahaj Marg/The Heartfulness Way explanations.

The terms may be understandable only to abhyasis and the ideas probably appreciated only by regular practitioners and/or trainers.

The general direction of each element is one way - to or from the inside.)

Two elements

Morning meditation - sitting from the inner Master

Evening cleaning - sitting from myself, supported by the inner Master

Two elements with a different perspective

Morning meditation - listening to the inner Master

Night introspection+prayer+meditation - communicating to/with the inner Master

Other elements

Individual sitting - sitting from the inner Master and mind-field of another abhyasi - the trainer, enhanced and supported by one's inner Master.

Universal Prayer and other sankalpas - undergirded by the inner Master, building and enhancing a positive attitude and supportive mind-field for humanity, and individuals and groups of humans. Initially. Then extending to all life.

Constant remembrance - real-time, as-needed, sittings and communication with the inner Master. To paraphrase Babuji - everything can be completed by constant remembrance; all the time it is charging. [1]

Group meditation - individual sittings for everyone in the group, plus work on interrelationships, plus work on group as a whole. This extends across all groups sitting at the same time in different locations.

Bhandara or celebration - group meditation with Grace. Grace can descend at any time, but it is certain and especially palpable during a bhandara, to which abhyasis across the world come. Perhaps the certainty is because they will change the mind-field of their own areas when they return.

NOTES

A sitting has only two activities - cleaning of the mind-field and transmission to it. Both activities are guided by prayer, and infused with universal, positive, sankalpas. For optimal effects, trainers should be in a state of positivity, gentleness, and humility. And realise the fragility and delicateness of the mind-field upon which the work is happening.

Transmission is always the same, the subtlest possible forceless-force. But when it goes through a mind-field, that absolutely pure, universal , attributeless love may get coloured and so become grosser. Hence the injunction that trainers should clean their mind-fields before giving sittings.

[1] Babuji in Shahjahanpur - Audio CD-1-02 Point of Intercommunication

03:30: I'm telling you, everything can be completed by Constant Remembrance.

Even meditation is not so useful as the Constant Remembrance, but we must do it. It has some specific purpose also. Meditation has some specific purpose also.

But you see, this Constant Remembrance is very useful.

Now I'm telling you: all the time charging. You are thinking of God and charging is there.

Love upon silencing the emotional mind

There are two aspects to thinking - mechanical or technological, and emotional and/or egotistic.

The first is a necessary part of human life, its dharma or ṛta. Its training and application occur both formally and informally.

There are two ways I know of by which the second aspect becomes silent. This training and application is absolutely personal and informal.

Such silencing is by removal of saṁskāras [1] as in a) Sahaj Marg cleaning, or b) through the much more onerous and finicky process of choiceless observation or bhogam without ahaṁkāra.

Per Jiddu Krishnamurti, the energy liberated or made tangible by this silence is Love.

Put differently, from sat-cit-ananda emanates the emotional layer of the mind (among other things). Resolving or silencing or merging that layer back into its source is laya. Thus exposing ānanda or Love.

The memory-less aspect of the emotional layer in laya, of  ānanda, is not appreciated enough.

Chariji once suggested meeting people every time as if for the first time. With minimal, perhaps zero, bias. This is a cure or a workaround for existing biases, and is another way to look at bhogam and resolution of the emotional layer.

For prevention, per Daaji, one should behave in such a way that biases or saṁskāras don't accumulate at all. Or, re-accumulate, after they have been removed.

Maxims Six, Seven, and Eight of the Ten Maxims of Sahaj Marg from Babuji directly address the behaviour to adopt to avoid saṁskāras.

Put so baldly, it sounds like a transactional mentality.

Yet the Master of Sahaj Marg is a living example of memory-less loving behaviour. As were the earlier Masters.

NOTES

[1] Daaji's wonderfully evocative phrase  is "emotional residue".

Evolution and Samkhya-Yoga philosophy

There is a hyper-realisitic philosophy called sāṁkhya (literally, from categories or from numberings), which posits an evolution (or descent, depending on your point of view) from two sets of infinities.

One infinity is a unitary set called prakṛti (Nature/Manifestor) or pradhāna (Base/Foundation) [1]. From this infinity manifests everything non-conscious, including mind [8], body, and material universe.

The second is a set of infinities called puruṣa's. Like the sun radiates light, each puruṣa radiates consciousness. Every living thing is a unidirectional combination of one puruṣa and a part of prakṛti.  Consciousness illuminates, but is untouchable by, the non-conscious. Vaguely similar to sun rays illuminating the earth. [3]

Now to evolution of the universe or multiverse. Think of a puruṣa as a consciousness source which purifies one part - a jīva (you or any living creature) - of an ocean of prakṛti. bhog, samādhi, and whatever else makes this purification happen for you as a jīva is by your surrender to this activity with minimal conditioning [4]. You, as an ocean current or whirlpool, are able to tune into the incessant inspiration from your puruṣa better with more and more purification. Your actions become more and more natural and less and less conditioned by subconscious and unconscious tendencies (vāsana's) and emotional residues (saṁskāra's).

Spiritual evolution of humans is purification of a significant part of the non-conscious ocean - a particular threshold of jīva's (humans, e.g.) attaining self-realisation, with its ripple effects.

Self-realisation, IMHO, is getting off the seesaw of habitual likes and dislikes (Babuji's Heart Region) and letting the seesaw of I and the Divine (Babuji's Mind Region) rest permanently on the side of the Divine. Kabir has a nice couplet for the latter:

     Love's lane is exceedingly narrow; it can't hold two.
     When 'I' was, the Divine [5] wasn't; now the Divine is, 'I' am not. [6]

I like sāṁkhya because it explains very elegantly a confusing Vedantic idea - I don't have to do anything as I am never bound - by splitting the I into conscious and non-conscious I's. The puruṣa 'I' is eternally free and unblemished. The prakṛti 'I', my bit of ocean, is what changes, maybe from iceberg to water to vapour to space! 

prakṛti as a whole goes through cycles of simplicity and complexity, purity and impurity, lightness and grossness, across cycles of manifestation and unmanifestation, which cause evolution at a multiverse level.

sāṁkhya is atheistic as there is no need for a whimsical God to plan or direct anything. It is close to science in the idea of natural evolution occurring due to individual actions. ṛta (root of rhythm?), or collective karma at the level of the infinite prakṛti, instead of random chance as in science [7], also drives evolution. But ṛta is not arbitrary, and applies even to higher beings.

yoga/rāja yoga philosophy adds the concept of a special puruṣa, an eternal Guru or Guide, not subject to grosser mental effects even when it does associate with (a part of) prakṛti and incarnates in a physical body.

yoga is traditionally considered the practical aspect of sāṁkhya theory. Its practices or techniques take one's mind gradually from a mostly outward focus to an inward focus and then to one that can go both ways equally easily.  Inward focus is of many levels or stages, and one key principle of sāṁkhya - an effect manifests from a cause - is used in the technique of resolving (Babuji's laya) a grosser effect thought layer into a subtler cause layer.

In Sahaj Marg, dissolution/resolution is done through cleaning. And in meditation, by letting the (almost?) infinitely subtle transmission of the Source of Divine Light guide your attention towards Itself, or your mental vibrations towards Its own level.

NOTES

[1] Babuji's bhūma [2] seems to be both pradhāna and puruṣa's, in a latent state

[2] From the chāndogya upaniṣad (7.24.1)

[3] Sun rays do enter into physical reactions as energy, even while illuminating. Consciousness rays, qualitatively different, cause understanding or wisdom in a layer of prakṛti, but it's a unidirectional relationship.

[4] Some conditioning is needed while living in a physical body, in a specific society, at a particular level of technology, kind of social stage (child, parent, elder, sage), etc.

[5] Kabir says 'Hari' for 'the Divine'.

[6] "'I' isn't" is technically better than "'I' am not", as 'I' is considered to be a set of "I, me, or mine" thoughts.

[7] Perhaps statistical random chance is indeed ṛta for gases!

[8] Mind, intellect, and ego (manas, buddhi, and ahaṁkāra) are considered non-conscious or jaḍa.

Samskara, Stithaprajna, and Robots

Think of an event which happens regularly every day.

A normal event.

I like or dislike it. [1]

The "like/dislike" creates an emotional residue - a saṁskāra. The "I" makes it my saṁskāra.

Technically, the first is called rāga/dveṣa and the second ahamkāra or abhiniveśa. Those naturally in a state beyond likes or dislikes and unconcerned about their self-image and other-images [2] have sthitaprajña - settled wisdom.

From philosophical to material, theory to real life.

How is a sthitaprajña different from a robot (or even a machine)? After all, both are naturally incapable of rāga and dveṣa and have no abhiniveśa, the subconscious fear of losing their self, mental or even physical. [3]

The answer, I believe, is love. Transcendental love flows always, but at its purest and most elevating through a sthitaprajña.

 

 

NOTES

[1] I may like or dislike only some part of it, or all of it. Also, I may like/dislike myself or the others [2] who are in the event. Trivial likes or dislikes, and their emotional residues, don't have long-term effects on one's future.

[2] I create a mental image not just of myself, but also of others. Some parts of those images are useful in normal life. Most are not just useless, but also false.

 

[3] Arguably. A robot programmed with Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics will strive to protect itself in normal circumstances. Also, machines are designed to shut down if their inputs are too high or too low, outside operational parameters.

Expanding selfishness

(A follow-up to Ahamkara paradox - I needed to lose the I)

There was a discussion many years ago on a series of prioritisations:

 

• for the family, sacrifice oneself
• for the village, sacrifice the family
• for the country, sacrifice the village
• for the atma, sacrifice everything

This series has a lot of history and commentary/explanations. It was probably first documented (but in different words) in the Mahabhārata in Vidura Nīti (details/commentary).

 

Now, try replacing 'sacrifice' by 'deciding for' or 'thinking for'. [1]

 

In the context of the "I", it is a straightforward expansion till the atma:

• A child thinks or decides only for itself.
• Parents decide primarily for their immediate family.
• A leader's decision is primarily for their organisation
• (business, country, kingdom, etc.)

But, what about sacrificing everything, or deciding only, for the atma? Isn't that regressing to a selfish/childish stage?

 

Yes, definitely, if one considers the atma to be an embodied, separate, creature. The immanent stage, in other words.

 

No, if the atma is considered as that which underlies or gives life to all of creation - the transcendental stage. The individuated "I" has been replaced by the transcendental "I". [2]

NOTES

 

[1] "Renunciation" or "sacrifice" has negative connotations. A better perspective is "expansion", e.g., from love only for one to love for all of their family. A related example: sannyasa is considered selfish because, among other things, one renounces family and society. But, a true sannyasi's concept of family expands 

tremendously, from a few members of his species to infinity!

 

[2] Purists may rightly quibble about the lack of rigour in equating the atma and the "I". My apologies, this is not a rigorously argued article.

Fable of two beings

IMAGINE:

- a being with a physical body which can feel and do (see/taste, and walk/touch, etc.). It is conscious or aware, but only of itself, and of everything else in relation to itself.

- another, humongously vast. It is single, and conscious, but has no physical perceptions or physical actions.

- the second in contact with the first. An interface exists between their consciousnesses. Vibrations, of various types and levels, in the interface are the communications between the two.

- also, the second in contact, simultaneously, with all of the first beings. The interface is not localised to a specific one.

- the interface is non-uniform - the subtlest vibrations occur near the second being and the grossest near the first.

- the first being's consciousness was initially so rudimentary that the second's consciousness controlled the higher perceptions and actions of its species.

- the first beings evolving. Each one's individual consciousness becomes subtler and starts to perceive and act, for itself. Species-wide perceptions and actions dwindle and communication occurs only through the physical senses, from the outside.

- some sensitive first ones who could raise their consciousness to subtler levels, nearer the second being's consciousness. They could access ideas and perceptions other than their own, from other first beings, and from the second.

- their feelings and their frustration when they tried to share their wonderful experiences through grosser vibrations of the physical level - sounds and symbols, words and letters - and failed.

- they work to raise the consciousness of the first beings to subtler levels, so all of them experience, and feel the same joy and peace, and live - in wonder, beauty, love, and fearlessness.

- you are one of them.

Imagine further

 

- the second being only exists, it doesn't act

 

- it _is_ consciousness

 

- it emanates consciousness unconditionally, eternally

 

- it has no thoughts

 

- it has no emotions

 

- it _is_ love

 

- it emanates love unconditionally, eternally

 

- it manifests ... all beings ... from, by, and in, itself

 

- all beings exist, are conscious, and love

 

- they cannot be, or do, otherwise

A Fable Across Lives

Once there was a human with a sincere interest in the highest  spiritual goal.

It had many lives as both man and woman, as father,  mother, daughter, son, lover, husband, and wife.

It tried many different  spiritual practices - some lifelong - and slowly built up, from life to  life, its understanding of effective techniques.

It had deep, broad,  and intense relationships with other humans - positive, negative, and  neutral. In these relationships, it hurt others - knowingly and unknowingly. Yet, it also helped others, again knowingly and unknowingly. Other humans hurt and helped it similarly, physically and emotionally and  intellectually, in the course of their own strivings, conscious and  unconscious, towards the highest.

It built up many layers of behaviours  and biases from these relationships and thought they were solely its  own.

Now, at the outset of this life, this human decided that, no matter what, it would reach the highest in this very life. No more getting sidetracked by non-eternal goals. For many years, all went well.  It lived and worked on its own, isolated mentally, even if not  physically. Then it started an effective spiritual practice that rapidly  removed the layers from its individual activities across many lives.

Relationships got made and unmade easily, with seemingly few residues. It reached a particular point in spirituality.

Then the residues of relationships also started getting removed and other humans from those relationships, themselves spiritual seekers, rejoined its life, physically and mentally. The variety of those relationships and the effects of  unravelling their residues were some or all of these - blissful, painful,  uncomfortable,  deeply comforting, joyous and depressing.

All this came as a  shock to this human who had thought the spiritual journey to be a solo adventure. Which it is, in that its own effort and understanding is a must. Each human hews its own path. Yet it is not completely solo, either, in that the residues from the relationships of many lives require an engagement at the spiritual level, which gets translated into social, emotional, and  physical engagements.

A rising tide lifts all boats, true, but how about a group of swimmers? Can't they stay afloat with reduced individual effort if they link with each other?

A spiritual  journey is akin to swimming in an unknown ocean of consciousness, where one learns various swimming strokes, how to drown and come back to life, techniques for saving others, other group behaviour, and so on, all the while being in the water.

Frustratingly or happily, depending on  your view of spirituality, there is no ultimate static spiritual goal as a human. The higher spiritual goals come into a human's conscious awareness when it has gone beyond normal human states of consciousness. Is it then still a human?

Thus a fable without a neat ending, but some elucidation, reassurance, and promise.