"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'.