"So, for the first time, the individual becomes a human" ~UG

'I' or the 'self' is the 'product of culture'

    Our names or labels are the tokens that facilitate various aspects of our societal living and functioning. UG never misses an opportunity to call the bluff about our false identity hinged upon names or labels. In the current audio clip, he is once again at it, hammering away the falsehood,

" There is no Ramaswami there...

That Ramaswami is the product of culture".

    Once christened by parents, names get slapped on our foreheads for the rest of our lives. Ram or Sita, Mohammed or Sarah, John or Jane, Chang or Chun serve societal purposes acting as IDs or passcodes for social transactions and contracts. 

    We actually need two kinds of currencies, the intellectual and the monetary, or knowledge and money, to survive and thrive in society. Money apart, we gather enormous amounts of knowledge over lifetime from our ecosystem of parents, friends, schools, family or society. 

    Society or culture is fundamentally rooted in the 'collective experience and knowledge' of humans from time immemorial. UG referred to it as the 'thought sphere'. Knowledge is an essential prerequisite to remain productive in a knowledge-based society. Society, for its own survival and propagation, ensures that the legacy of knowledge gets passed on from one generation to generation, handed to each and every one,

"Ramaswami, UG or Srinivasan is created by that culture for the purposes of maintaining its continuity. So, that is why it educates them, teaches them."            ~UG  

    Knowledge, incidentally, is the very 'prop' or the 'mental stuff' for the psychological or the subjective world of the 'I' or the 'self', pivoted entirely on a name or label. 

    "So, all your thinking, feeling and experiencing depend upon that (culture or acquired knowledge)." ~UG

    Every thought or feeling or experience gets deeply anchored to our names or labels. This establishes our social or cultural or psychological reality or 'identity'.

 Identity vs Individuality

    In this short and engaging clip, UG is focused on the much overlooked distinction between 'identity' and 'individuality'. His sharp observations are both revealing as well as intriguing. 

    While maintaining that Ramaswamy or 'you' or 'I' might be a culturally fabricated 'identity', UG avers that there is also the extraordinary 'culture-free' 'individual' dormant in each of us. UG refers to this naturally and richly endowed 'individual' as the 'human', also sometimes as the 'human flower'. Interestingly, Taoism too refers to all 'individuals' who have come into their own as 'real humans'. 

    In many of his talks and discussions, UG brings up the idea of the 'individual' or the 'human' as a completely self-sufficient, autonomous, independent, intelligent and efficient functional unit of life, not isolated from the rest of life around. Closest parallel to this description of the individual is the human or the animal cell.  

    The human body is made of trillions of 'individual cells'. Each cell acts like a micro universe, holding its own copy of the entire human genome, powered by its own battery pack (mitochondria), made of key functional units (organelles), having complete autonomy to operate as a fully self-sufficient unit. But, while being completely self-sufficient, the cell intelligently operates as a consummate team player, not merely focused on its own survival, but working in the larger interest of 'totality' or 'unity' of the whole organism. We see here the real empathy or 'connectedness' in operation, yet another demo of the unitary nature of life.  

    Each cell seems to be uncannily 'aware' of the whole or the 'big picture' of the entire physiology and its response therefore is in lockstep or unitary with the whole organism. The entire human genome lies dormant within each cell serving as a 'memo' or reminder to inform the cell about its true design, its place, its role, its responsibility and functionality as part and parcel of the whole. This uncanny 'awareness' of the cell about the 'totality' or 'unity' of the 'whole' makes it truly an individual. 

    The individual cell therefore goes about fully cooperating with all other cells to form clusters of tissues or organs, and organs come together to form yet higher order systems and so on. Thus cells, individually and collectively work their way up the evolution ladder to realise and express the full potential of the whole human organism as per the genome or the blueprint stored in individual cells. 

    Importantly, the cells or tissues or organs do not compete with each other for resources like water, oxygen, vitamins, proteins etc. (except in dire situations like a runaway disease or illness), rather they fully share and distribute every resource available to every other cell in the body thus mutually supporting and nourishing each other. This makes the cell a true representative of what UG calls the 'individual' representing the unity of life.

    In nature too, we see that every living creature (except man) is acting as a true 'individual' being uncannily aware of the totality of life, acting out at the individual level but working together with other interconnected life forms for the health and wellbeing of the entire ecosystem.

    Insects, birds, animals, plants come together in harmony as entire teams, and in supreme cooperation and coordination work to keep the balance and order of nature.

No experience without the 'I'

    UG held that while human identity might be tethered to the name etc, it is the knowledge that is giving it a fake reality,

'I' is nothing but the 'movement of knowledge' ~ UG  

    UG also emphasised the importance of knowledge or thought in our day-to-day lives. He underscored the role of knowledge as a real enabler helping us to function 'sanely and intelligently' in society. 

" So, you have necessarily to use that 'movement of knowledge' (solidified as 'I' or 'self') that is passed on from generation to generation. 

You see, that is essential in the sense that you cannot experience anything without that (culture). You cannot feel anything without that. You cannot think anything without that."

    Even sages can't do without knowledge as long as they are operating within the framework of society. They employ the 'thought' borrowed from the same thought pool, like the rest of us, to function sanely and intelligently. But they use thought purely 'on demand' and therefore thought only has a pure functional value for them minus the emotional or sentimental payload,

" Thought or UG comes into play whenever there is a need to go to the post office or to buy an airline ticket. " ~ UG

    What then makes the regular humans self-destructive and harmful?

    UG answers this question for us,

"Thought is your enemy."

" Thought in its birth, in its origin, in its content, in its expression, and in its action is very fascist." ~UG

    Unlike everything else in nature, human society is founded on culture or thought. Thought fabricates the 'I' or the 'self' as 'movement of knowledge'. The 'I' makes for division or separation in humans leading to comparison, competition and control, paving way for conflict, destruction and harm. 

'Go back to the source'- UG

UG defines religion as 'going back to the source', a turning back or a reversal or a kind of metanoia.

In this context, I recollect the powerful words of a traditional lady, a spiritually inclined, devout housewife, Mrs. Prasanna Malladi, the wife of late Malladi Krishnamurthy who served UG for many years during his yearly visits to Madras.

Self, and dear friend Satya, on our last visit to the Malladis in Bangalore requested the lady to share her takeaways from her long association with UG. She shared a short UG 'mantra' of just two words that had given her tremendous relief and peace.

UG told her to "Go back".

'Go back' does not suggest action, rather it is a call to stop all action that is taking away oneself from the 'source' or 'fountain of life'. This means to stop doing anything that is either forced upon us by someone, or is self-imposed, including all forms of meditation, yoga or other spiritual practices, anything with an end-goal in mind that gives lease of life to thought or thinking.

All methods or practices only lead to restlessness, agitation and hopelessness, disturbing the tremendous peace already inherent in the organism, and muddying the calm waters of life.

Here is a great passage from Taoism that further elucidates UG's 'going back',

" Reversal means 'going back' to the origin of life. It is like someone who has left home and gone far away, turning around and returning home...it is called 'reversal' because it goes contrary to the course of action of ordinary people."

" The Inner Teachings of Taoism", Thomas Cleary

'Going back' is the equivalent of 'wu-wei' in Taoism ('doing nothing' because 'you are seeking nothing'). It is the complete or total abandonment of all wants or undertakings without any end goal or purpose or agenda of achieving some spiritual state.

'I' or the 'self' is very cunning and takes the most deceptive forms, impossible to detect. 'Search' or 'hope' is nothing but the 'I' in its most subtle, disguised or concealed form, notoriously deceitful.

Only a real teacher can help us see all these subtleties and nuances pointing to the utter futility of 'search' while ensuring that he or she does not turn or become a crutch for the seeker.

All those who have sincerely, intensely tried and discovered for themselves (UG called it the 'homework') the utter futility of spiritual undertakings can clearly see through the 'guru game' and avoid its many traps and perils.

Perhaps it is the true sincerity, intensity and clarity of inquiry that acts as a powerful force that pulls the real teacher into the field of the inquirer, much like a 'tuned' radio antenna pulling the electromagnetic waves of a specific radio channel (say, BBC) into the receiver. That is the reason perhaps sages declare that 'the teacher appears when the disciple is ready'.

But voluntary shopping for the guru does not cut it, no, it might even lead to immense harm for the seeker.

***

Audio Clip

Audio Transcription

UG: Let me put it this way.

UG is not a separate UG, no  

Q: There is no entity....

UG: No (entity there)! There is no Ramaswami (Questioner) there, even now.

That Ramaswami is the product of the culture. You are trying to be an individual.

It is not possible for you to be an individual as long as you use that (culture) - for your survival, not just for communication only, for your very survival. You see, that is essential in the sense that you cannot experience anything without that (culture). You cannot feel anything without that. You cannot think anything without that.

So, you have necessarily to use that 'movement of knowledge' (solidified as 'I' or 'self') that is passed on from generation to generation.

So, your thinking, feeling and experiencing depend upon that (culture or acquired knowledge).

So when once that (culture) is finished, you are thrown off that, there is no feeling, there is no experience, there is no thinking there...

Thought is not used for the purposes you use - to maintain the continuity.

He (or she or the individual) thinks, feels and experiences the way everybody else feels, thinks and experiences.

So (when once that (culture) is finished), for the first time, the individual becomes a human.

For the first time!

Q: the individuality is lost.

UG: No! He becomes an individual. 

And, that individual has no use for the society.

Because Ramaswami, UG and Srinivasan is created, by that culture, for the purposes of maintaining its continuity. 

So, that is why it (culture or society) educates them, teaches them. 

So, body functioning on its own, has no relationship at all, except the relationship that is 'integral with every living thing'.

"You are a sitting misery, walking misery, talking misery, living misery." - UG

    

    

    As humans, we live and function in a complex environment. Firstly, there is the natural, physical environment we share with all living creatures, and then there is the superimposed layer atop the physical - the cultural environment, unique and peculiar to humans.

    The body's native or inbuilt biological apparatus is hardwired over millions of years to live, function and survive all kinds of threats in the physical or natural environment.  

    The cultural environment, on the other hand, is rooted in thousands of years of human thought, since the dawn of human society. The cultural layer, as such, is referred to as the 'thought sphere' by UG. It is the 'psychological universe' or the 'mental realm' of social traditions, relationships, transactions, norms, values, isms, beliefs, ideals and goals. UG called it the 'superimposed reality' or the 'only reality' in which we all live, breathe and die.

     What Krishna, Rama, Lao Tzu, Buddha, Socrates, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed or Marx or Hitler (UG added Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse to the list) said or did, have all impacted the collective human consciousness, and is part of our culture. The culture, per UG, percolates our biology. Science is probing this fascinating phenomenon of transmission of culture through genes, the study of 'epigenetics'.

    Every thought of ours is borrowed from the 'thought sphere'. We see, hear, think and act as per its dictates. Right from birth, we begin to siphon off tons of thoughts, experiences, artifacts and beliefs that belong to the whole human race or the 'thought sphere'. 

    One of the most powerful, persistent, intimate, stubborn, die-hard belief among all the borrowed beliefs, is the belief in the 'I' or the 'self', foisted upon us by culture. 

    Culture therefore is the crucible where the 'self' gets forged, then maintained or perpetuated through the mechanism of social algorithms or memes. In fact, every social transaction validates and legitimizes the belief in the 'self' or the 'I'. 

  Every walking human is like a 'thought bubble' on the surface of the 'thought sphere'. Individually, we as thought bubbles affect the others, and in turn, we too get affected. All social transactions or contracts are exchanges between two thought bubbles. 

" We are affected by everything and everyone around us." ~UG

    Thoughts dominate and dictate our lives.

" You can't even take a few steps without 'talking' or 'muttering' to yourself - 'this is a nice flower', 'it is a bright day' and so on... All the time you are thinking." ~UG

    While thoughts could be sporadic, episodic, focused or contextual, the 'solidification' or 'institutionalisation of thoughts' happens through the medium of the 'human collective' or the 'society'. 

    'Society' and 'self' are thus basically the manifestations of the self-same 'thought sphere', the obverse and reverse of the same coin. The two are perceived as distinct and separate due to the dualistic nature of social or cultural contracts like marriage etc. But the mental stuff or the substrate is the same! 

    Survival of the 'self' therefore happens to be the survival of 'society' and vice versa. Society will continue to propagate the big lie about the 'self', and the 'self' about the society, to ensure the artificial duality and mutual continuity. 

    A glaring example, right in front of our very eyes, is the transformation of a 'culture-free' infant, unaware of its own gender, into a full blown, 'self-sufficient' adult in the social world, fully capable of exercising 'his' or 'her' own will. 

    This is nothing short of a masterly 'simulation' (Maya) of the 'self' by the all-powerful, cultural environment. At least this is how the Eastern sages like Sri Sankara, Sri Ramana or UG see the workings of the 'superimposed reality' or 'thought sphere' in conjuring up the 'I' or the 'self'. They ask us to inquire into this sham reality and get over with it.

    UG and Sri Ramana Maharshi addressed the die-hard misconception about the 'self' being perceived as a separate and distinct entity from 'society'. 

    When someone queried Sri Ramana whether he should continue his non-profit, providing services to 'others' in the Americas, he responded with a poignant, "Who are the 'others'?" 

    On similar lines, when someone spoke of serving society, UG too observed, 

" Where is this 'society' you are talking about? 'You' are not different from, or other than 'society'. You' are the society." 

    Here lies the fundamental human problem, the painful act of straddling between two different, distinct, conflicting worlds, the biological (physical or real) and the psychological (mental or virtual). 

    UG, after his 'calamity' (death and resurrection), went about his business of cutting to the bone by brushing aside all kinds of social or spiritual authorities, and value systems. For him, all these were all noise and fluff. They are distracting and sidetracking us from the real problem of human restlessness and misery. 

    UG tracks down the origins of our neurotic situation to the constant friction between the physical and the mental worlds. The friction, he says is dissipating huge amounts of life energy, draining away all our vitality and vigour. 

    In this clip, UG makes it clear that 'wanting to end friction', in fact, causes even more friction due to overthinking, ("Wanting and thinking always go together") wrecking the inner peace and compounding the existing misery.

" It is very difficult to understand that (you have) to be free from the very demand to be free." 

"You will not get anything from anybody to be at peace with yourself.

All this is (only) disturbing the peace that is already there." ~UG

    

****

Audio Clip

(87-UG TALKING ABOUT VALENTINE JAN 1987-AUDIO - YouTube)   

Audio Transcription

UG: You will not get anything from anybody to be at peace with yourself.

All this is disturbing the peace that is already there.

Your idea of peace is altogether different.

Q: How would it look like if you had no ideas about it?

UG: So, you have to live with your ideas and suffer.

That's all. There is no way out for you. If somebody says there is a way out, go there and stand on your head, hang from the tree, or meditate, do what you like.

But the misery continues. 

There is another (new) misery.

Q: What do you call misery?

UG: Do I have to tell you?

Yes.

UG: Do I have to tell you?

You are miserable.

That's why you are looking your way out.

You are a sitting misery, walking misery, talking misery, living misery.

You want to be out of that.

Get out of that. Whatever it is, you don't call it misery. Call it by whatever name you like. You are choked. What is it that is choking you?

What is it that is killing you? Destroying the very thing that you want.

All that human value, all the good things that you want to be.

The freedom. You want to be free. It is that that is killing you.

You don't seem to understand this simple thing. 

It is very difficult to understand that (you have) to be free from the very demand to be free. 

That's all that you have to do. It's not easy.

****

" That's all that you can do. Replace one illusion with another illusion." - UG

    

    In this clip UG exorcises the two ghosts that constantly haunt us, the 'ghost of restlessness' goading us to seek permanence, and the 'ghost of understanding' frustrating us with its flawed pursuit of life and mysteries through mechanism of thinking.  

    We all are disturbed, frustrated, restless and burdened with a myriad problems in our lives. UG calls them, 'the problems of living' - the problems of fitting into the cultural framework, living up to its ideals, achieving its goals, negotiating conflicts and frictions born in relationships like hatred, jealousy, anger, fear, frustration etc. 

    As humans we have placed a huge premium on 'understanding' - understanding of problems.' Through understanding of problems, we believe that we can get a real handle on problems and gain control over them.

    Well, our faith in the 'instrument of understanding' is not completely misplaced as the understanding of nature has given us the awesome science and technology resulting in human progress.

    Understanding takes many forms - the ability to know or learn, the ability to see or recognise causes or sources, to verify and validate facts, and build structures of knowledge based on observable, proven or established facts. 

    " That (understanding) is the only instrument you have... it's a very, very useful one. Very useful one to deal with the reality of the world." -UG

     But what is good for the goose may not be good for the gander.  

    Understanding may be a great tool in dealing with the problems of the transactional world (learning a technique, finding a job, buying property, investing, planning, building, fixing a machine etc.) but is utterly futile in dealing with 'problems of living' with other human beings or in society.

    These 'hard' problems of living frustrate us, make us restless and compel even the best of us to abandon reason and discretion. They make us desperate and push us to seek solutions from unknown or risky sources. 

    And there is a booming spiritual marketplace ready and replete with all types of shady characters (market gurus) to cater to the never-ending demands of desperate, lost souls. Promise of solutions ranges from the exotic to the esoteric, from Tantrik sex to Vedanta as antidotes to frustration, restlessness etc.

    UG rubbishes all our attempts to find a way out of our restlessness or frustration by a reality check about the impermanent nature of life. The greed in seeking permanence in an impermanent reality is the crux of all our problems. 

    We seek permanence in everything- we want permanent happiness (UG calls it the notion of God), permanent relationships, permanent loyalty, permanent reputation, permanent solution etc.  But people change, situations change and problems change. Everything is in a flux, making solutions and answers redundant and meaningless in no time.

    In this uncertain, ever-changing reality, we seek 'permanence' through search and seek 'meaning' through understanding. 

    We feverishly chase after one guru after another. Once we discover some guru or solution, we find that that is not really enduring and soon get disillusioned, we then move on to another guru, another solution, and on and on, becoming totally restless.     

    The greed for solution makes us blind to the problem and keeps it going. As long as we refuse to see the total and complete futility of seeking permanence in an ever-changing, impermanent world of names and forms, our search will never end.

    UG debunks the myth of 'search or seeking' that keeps replacing one goal with another, and also the myth of 'understanding' that is totally misleading and frustrating, 

    "That's all that you can do. Replace one with another. Replace one illusion with another illusion. One restlessness with another restlessness."

    "And you will remain in the same situation for the rest of your life as long as you try to understand something and act from that understanding."  

    ****  

Audio Clip  

Audio Transcription    

UG: I knew some of those fellows who are (with) Mr. Rajaneesh for years and years. 

    I told the story. He also knows.  And before he came into contact with me, he had a very big painting of Rajanesh of the size of this wall. And then you see, in the same place, the same size photo of UG is there now.

    And what happened to Rajneesh? He put it there in the attic somewhere. That's all that you can do. 

Q: I did the same. Exactly the same. You are now in my house.

UG: Yes. So, what for? It's like all these Americans, you know, the wife changes, you see, all the photos, they're badly messed up. Everybody goes in the office -he has a new wife, new wife's brother, sister, all the new photos. That's all that you can do. 

    Replace one with another. Replace one illusion with another illusion. One restlessness with another restlessness. 

    You try to understand that. Now you want to understand. You are in the same situation. And you will remain in the same situation for the rest of your life as long as you try to understand something and act from that understanding. 

    No. So, there is nothing to understand. That's all that I am saying.

    How this dawned on me, occurred to me, I really don't know. So, I cannot help you. This is something which I cannot. This is the way I have come to the understanding that there is nothing to understand.

    You see. So, it is not that way you can understand anything. That's the only instrument you have. There is no other instrument, no intuitive understanding, nothing.

    You see that instrument has not helped you to understand the living problems, the living issues you are dealing with. And it will not help you at all in the future. And there is no other instrument. There is no other instrument. 

    That's the only instrument you have. If that is not used for that purpose, it's a very, very useful one. Very useful one to deal with the reality of the world.

****