 |
| ( Photo: Heinz-Richard Vieten ) |
The Enchanting Spiritual Goals
Many feel that there is some magical or enchanting quality about spiritual goals that is simply absent in the material goals. That is not to discount the lure of material goals that are tangible and gratifying.
Those of us who are chasing after spiritual goals do so for various reasons – either we have sufficient bank balance, insurance and property but are plain bored with the din and grind of everyday life, or we want to attain moksha or salvation or enlightenment prescribed by some spiritual book or guru, or we want to awaken the hidden spiritual power or kundalini or the enormous potential within ( self-actualization), or we wish to escape the harsh realities of life, or boss over legions of followers by becoming future gurus or leaders or guides.
Most of us wittingly or unwittingly get initiated into the spiritual journey at some point in our life. Regardless of the goal, the spiritual domain remains an obsession, a promised land. But it is also a minefield of perils if we discard reason, caution and discretion. Our spiritual pursuit could then turn into a life-wrecking misadventure.
****
Experience-seeking Minds & Spiritual Misadventures
Rarely do we encounter a firebrand anti-guru like UG who holds a mirror to our search and clinically dismantles the very basis for the reality or factuality of the enchanting spiritual goals.
UG advocates healthy scepticism as an antidote to spiritual fevers of all kinds. He asks us to stop the search and step back for a moment, and ask ourselves a few simple, honest and fundamental questions about the reason for our search.
UG dissects our spiritual pursuits by calling into question two fundamental assumptions on our part, 'our clarity about the goal' ('what do you want?') and the reason for the pursuit or 'our intention' ('why do you want it?').
Yes, rather than being impulsive, naive and gullible, we would be better off in any spiritual undertaking by initiating a sincere and honest probe into the rationale for our search on the lines of UG's questioning:
"What do I want in life? What is my real intention? Am I honest enough to see or admit my own ugliness or weakness? Am I afraid to face my own reality? Am I chasing after something which I really don’t know? Have I considered the possible missteps or traps or dangers in my blind pursuit?
What is the basis for the ideology or teaching that is beckoning me? How genuine or authentic is the proponent of the teaching or the guru? What is the basis for his or her teaching? Does (s)he really walk the talk or does it really operate in his or her own life?
By any chance, am I walking into a dubious cult that could blow up later in my face? Am I being manipulated by some uncanny group dynamic or mass hypnosis? Am I following or ignoring the dictates of my own heart? Am I being led up the garden path by someone else, however close, well-meaning (s)he may be?
Do I get to see both sides of the coin -the public and private life of the guru or the walking god before committing to his or her path? Am I afraid to question the teacher or the teaching? Am I infirm or reckless? Do I lack the assertiveness to say 'no' to avoid any future pitfalls? Do I possess the courage, in case of need, to walk out of any tenuous and demanding spiritual relationship? Can I walk alone if the situation demands it?"
UG warns us that we are merely chasing mirages when we go after spiritual experiences. There are plenty of gurus, godmen or phonies in the spiritual marketplace offering cheap spiritual goodies and experiences.
The seductive power of spiritual experiences is akin to the pull of narcotics. The drug-induced experiences give a taste of an alternate reality that is full of temporary 'out-of-the-world' experiences or euphoric states. Market gurus promise more lasting, petty spiritual experiences. No wonder the spiritual market has a lot in common with the narco business. Both are highly seductive, lucrative, powerful and notorious.
UG categorically dismissed all kinds of spiritual experiences,
"All your spiritual experiences are just worthless experiences. However profound, they are just petty little experiences, shoddy piece of goods. If they have really helped you at all, why are you here? Why are you still seeking answers?" - UG
UG rubbished all kinds of spiritual experiences as either illusory, or thought-induced (self-hypnotic), or pathologically induced (out-of-body experience due to physiological or chemical imbalances like high blood pressure etc.). Just like drugs, these extraordinary experiences only turn us into mere addicts or slaves.
Petty spiritual experiences make us feel special, superior and arrogant and push us into self-deception and delusion. This sets us up to be vulnerable to deadly spiritual traps and predators. No doubt, personal tragedies are very regular and common in the spiritual realm as well as the narcotic world.
****
The Idea of Change & Psychological Time
The 'idea of change' is central to any holy business. And also, it is key to every social or political movement. Changing the behaviour of people and programming the minds is at the very core of all conversions.
Individually every one of us is invested in the 'idea of change'. We believe in bringing about a change not only in ourselves but also in others and even in society.
Basically, the whole idea of change or the idea of improvement revolves around making oneself more adaptable or acceptable or successful in the society or the value system where we want to belong. Or it may be that individually we may want to become someone or follow a role model.
For UG, the idea of a 'perfect human being' is anathema. He explicated that nature does not use a single mould for all of humanity. There is no duplication or repition in creation. Nature does not use anything as a model. For nature, there is no one individual who is 'preferred' or 'special' or 'the chosen one'. Every human being is unique and unparallelled just like any two leaves or flowers.
"Nature is only interested in creating perfect species but not perfect individuals." - UG
For UG, the idea of any psychological change, the idea of trying to follow in the footsteps of someone, however great or noble is unnatural and a crime against nature. He warned us that it will only lead to dichotomy and inner conflict disturbing the supreme balance, peace and harmony inherent in our biology. Nevertheless, most of us are irrevocably caught up in the act of change, trying to become somebody - 'I am ugly but tomorrow I will be holy', 'I am fallible but tomorrow I will be noble', and so on.
One of the greatest inventions of the human mind is the idea of 'tomorrow'. Tomorrow forms the basis for all psychological time. Without time, there is no future. It is the idea of tomorrow that makes possible all of our psychological journeys. We humans cannot live without a calendar. Our transactional world will fall apart without the benefit of a calendar.
No wonder 'the idea of change' and 'the idea of tomorrow' are always tied together.
****
The Planet Is Not In Danger But We Are In Danger
Being the organic part and parcel of the society where we belong, we can never bring ourselves to question our role models nor do we question the wisdom or rationality of changing ourselves to become one like them. We succumb and submit, blindly and willingly, to the dictates of society.
UG decried the whole idea of change as utterly flawed and therefore the root cause of all our problems.
In the social world, the chaos, the wars, the ongoing conflicts are nothing but the result of flawed ideologies or doctrines or theories of just a few powerful leaders or individuals who took it upon themselves to bring about a change in swathes of people or society.
Each leader or messiah offered some social model, a framework or value system based solely upon his own individual life events, guided by his private experiences, his personal successes or failures under the prevailing social or political order of his times. Many such value systems or social models are outdated, incompatible or irrelevant to the times in which we live in today.
There cannot be a bigger fallacy than the dictum: 'one size fits all'. All the chaos and conflicts we see today in the world are the direct or indirect consequence of this extreme position or groundless fallacy.
All 'isms and 'cracies - socialism, liberalism, communism or theocracy, democracy or autocracy are such models or experiments trying to fit all of us into a common framework with grave consequences.
Currently there are plenty of on-going wars and conflicts, the result of trying to force a change or impose a different social or political order on whole lands or nations.
"It is your desire to bring about a change, to create a heaven on earth that has created this hell for all of us." -UG
Consider mother nature. Anything that we do to alter or change the natural order of things put in place by nature over the course of millions of years, is only counter-productive to the established order and harmony of the planet. All that science and technology can offer is more and more comfort or convenience.
UG averred that everything that is needed for human survival already exists in nature, that too in great abundance. But our disruptive inventions or technologies are impacting the planet in such a way that it will be detrimental to our very safety or survival.
"The planet is not in danger, but we are in danger." - UG
It is again ' the idea of change' in the name of progress and development that has brought us all to the brink of disaster with rampant and relentless exploitation of natural resources by only a handful of powerful countries.
In the name of creating peace & heaven we are sowing the seeds of war & hell.
****
End of Search Is The End of Psychological Time
In this revelatory audio clip, UG explains in simplest terms how thought as psychological time has turned into our biggest stumbling block that prevents us to see the living reality of the world. The moment we look at anything or anyone, immediately the thought interferes and distorts it by either invoking the past or the non-existent future.
UG in no way discounts the significance or the role of time, its value or purpose in building or construction, or for travel, or for learning or for practicing an art or technique, or even for making progress in our careers. All this involves chronological time.
But the goal of becoming
an enlightened being is intrinsically tied to the idea of change
from what one is
to what one should be. And this involves
psychological time.
UG offers a great pointer
to ending of all distortions and delusions caused by psychological time by simply dropping search
or seeking:
“So, whenever such a thing
happened, it happened to those people who had given up completely and totally
all their search.
You know, that's an absolute
requisite for that kind of a thing.
The whole movement has to slow
down, you see, and come to a stop, but anything you do, to make it stop, is
only adding momentum to it.”
****
Audio Transcription
Unless the past comes to an end,
there can't be any present, the now, the present moment.
And that present moment is something
which cannot be captured by you, cannot be experienced by you, you see.
So even assuming for a moment that
the past has come to an end, you have no way of knowing that it has come to an
end.
You see, so then there is no future
for you at all.
There may be a future ( the psychological time measured in terms of achievement), tomorrow you will become boss of your company in which
you are working, I don't know.
The school teacher becomes the head
of the institution and the professor becomes the dean, you see. That
possibility is there, but you have to put in a lot of struggle, you know, that
takes time.
So you are applying the same
technique (to achieve spiritual goal or enlightenment), you see.
That (thought) is the only thing,
that instrument which you are using to realize whatever you are interested in
and so it puts it (out) there, in the future.
So, it has produced tremendous
results in this world (that you can observe).
So, how can that instrument be not
the instrument to achieve your spiritual goals, if there are any spiritual
goals you have before them?
So that is not the instrument,
obviously, because you have tried, you see, you have done everything possible.
Even those who are burning with (spiritual)
hunger, they find it, you see, it's impossible, you know.
In India everybody, you see, tried
this, you wouldn't believe that, you see. Not one was lucky enough.
So, whenever such a thing happened,
it happened to those people who had given up completely and totally all their
search.
You know, that's an absolute
requisite for that kind of a thing.
The whole movement has to slow down,
you see, and come to a stop, but anything you do, to make it stop, is only
adding momentum to it.
That's really the crux of the
problem.
So what you are interested in,
doesn't exist.
It's your own imagination based upon
the knowledge you have about those things.
And so, there is nothing that you
can do about it.
You are chasing something that does
not exist at all.
YOU ARE CHASING SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT EXIST AT
ALL.
****
No comments:
Post a Comment