Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The problem is we think!

Yesterday, my friend said that one of our earlier posts quotes Swamiji in contradiction to what Swamiji Himself says elsewhere.

One of the titles of Swamiji's discourses is "Collective Consciousness" where He gives us detailed insights into how thoughts of every person affects and is affected by the rest of the cosmos. In another discourse, He says there is nothing called "Collective Consciouness"! He says in one of His discourses that rituals are meaningless. In another, He gives a detailed explanation on the significance and science of rituals! In yet another place He says we do not have to renounce what we have, but you would see the Sanyasis (monks) in His ashram literally renouncing everything they have!

As long as we try to intellectualise these things, our mind is left thoroughly confused. An enlightened master deliberately teases our ego and intellect. When Swamiji talks, it is not the words that work on us, but the energy behind them. If we catch only the words, then we have lost the game.

And one more thing, whatever an enlightened master talks is the Truth. So, it is not that He is lying in one of His contradictory statements. What He says, relevant to a particular point in time and space may not be relevant in another. But our puny intellect cannot comprehend the difference and starts to assess and complain.

When our intellect is questioned, the ego is at threat. The ego tries to make sense of everything based on what it knows. When it encounters something which it cannot place in the familiar frames of reference, it starts to lose its bearing. It is too much for the ego/intellect to handle.

When this layer drops, we suddenly start seeing that everything makes sense - INCLUDING those that appear as contradictions. That is the reason we think there are so many paths and so many enlightened masters. Because our ego differentiates one from another. At a point, what Jesus says may contradict what Buddha says, which may inturn contradict what Swamiji says. At another point, they are blend into each other. After all, they are all talking of the same thing and are just different manifestations of the same energy!

That is why Swamiji says - 'When Jesus and Krishna meet, they hug each other. But when the sheep of Jesus and cows of Krishna meet, there begins the war!'.

The message is that, we will never ever be able to comprehend enlightened masters if we use our puny scales and known templates. Simply because they are all beyond them - in a completely different dimension altogether. Our mind is our only obstruction to enlightenment and a master burns the mind away, if we allow him to.

That is why you see the famous Buddhist Zen Koans are one liners which the mind can never answer. Example: how did your face look like before you were born? or what is the sound of one hand clapping? The koans are teasers of the intellect and their concept is amazing! When we completely contemplate on them, fully, at one point, the intellect gives up. The mind drops and one achieves the no-mind state. Here is a video on Zen Koans by Swamiji:

1 comment:

prabhu.i.am said...

Here's a koan a friend told me:

Those who don't know, blog,
Those who do, don't!


LOL!