" Do for others what you think I did for you " - UG to Mahesh Bhat

  There are many known, unknown and hidden dangers and traps in the shady bylanes of the spiritual bazaar.

There are plenty of impostors in the garb of gurus and swamis, and multitudes more of unsuspecting and gullible followers.

In this treacherous spiritual milieu, a naïve, blind follower could easily end up as a ‘sitting duck’ for spiritual predators.

In what could be described as the case of ‘misplaced trust’, oftentimes faithfuls get stripped of everything they possess - dignity, property, and sanity by unscrupulous conmen.

In this clip, UG debunks any show of gratitude using a parody (of a follower’s expression of gratitude),

“My encounter with you has helped me to come into my own, (you helped me) to become me.”

These words capture the sentiments of a typical follower or devotee.

Yes, there is nothing wrong per se about being grateful to those who genuinely care for us or help us or benefit us. Gratitude is considered as a virtue and being grateful, a noble act of civility and refinement. 

Remember, gratitude is not an artifact of human value system but natural instinct common among sentient beings. We witness its operation in mother nature, in birds and animals too.

However, things are highly distorted in the spiritual marketplace. It is an extremely treacherous transactional world where gurus are salesmen selling ‘cheap and shoddy piece of goods’, where bogus spiritual help carries a hefty price tag, and seekers end up being at the receiving end, relegated to the role of hapless customers.

When the source of spiritual help itself becomes suspect or spurious or untrustworthy, one must be extremely watchful. In this context, any show of gratitude could be misplaced. 

When trust and gratitude are carried to extreme forms like blind loyalty or unquestioning servility, one is stepping into the danger zone of abuse or exploitation by conmen.

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UG always downplayed his role or influence in the success of people whom he touched. And there are many beneficiaries.

The young and incredibly talented Mahesh Bhat initially met UG during his days of struggle in the film industry as a flop director, but later went on to scale dizzy heights in Bollywood, winning several national and international awards in his career.

Here is UG’s plain talk to Mahesh on expressing heartfelt gratitude for everything that he had received from the master,  

“Mahesh, if you think whatever you are today is because of me, which I don’t think so, then do for others what you think I did for you.”

Decades later, Mahesh Bhat still recalls every word of what UG said that day. This has gone deep into his bones and become the credo of his life,

“That has become my Dharma, my Kashi, my Mecca, that is what I do, I live my master’s words.”

****

UG vehemently rejects all attempts to put him on a pedestal, or enshrine him into a guru or guide,

“Nor will I be fooled by what you are saying (your sweet words of gratitude). That is the end of it.”

UG raises a red flag not to be fooled or emotionally blackmailed by any speeches or acts of gratitude and not to be led up the garden path by one’s own followers, a great caveat for all wannabe gurus.

Even the best and the noblest among men meekly succumb to sentiments of gratitude, praise, and adulation and fall into the trap of gurudom and followership.

****

But first, why this thirst for spiritual experiences? Why this craze for gurus?

The reason is not far to seek.

The emptiness or meaninglessness of life, the daily grind, the misery, the harsh realities of life could all be so overwhelming that even the bravest of hearts crumble under the pressure and seek for an escape route or even an alternate reality.

The desperate search for peace, fulfilment, and happiness leads seekers inevitably to the doorsteps of ashrams or spiritual gurus.

The lure of spiritual life makes even the best and finest minds to abandon all caution, give up all elemental reasoning and discrimination, and walk into the snare of unscrupulous gurus.

Like drugs, the lure of spiritual goals is extremely seductive.

The spiritual bazaar is abuzz with all kinds of fly-by-night operators - godmen, conmen, peddlers and scamsters.

There is a huge demand for spiritual services and a plethora of spiritual goodies are on offer including ‘enlightenment’, ‘awakened state’, ‘blissful state’ or ‘eternal happiness’ and, what have you!

****

UG offers us a simple ‘safety net’ against all spiritual cons.

Firstly, he asks us to STOP in our tracks RIGHT NOW and stop chasing after fictitious goals.

And here are his pointers to stay safe from all kinds of con artists,

“What is a good man good for? Only for the bad man to exploit.” (To be good in a treacherous world, is to be vulnerable to predators)

“Stop looking for roses and there will be no thorns” (Stop chasing after spiritual goodies, and you are insured against all threats or traps of the spiritual kind).

“There is no such thing as ‘enlightenment’ or eternal happiness…” (All spiritual goals are mental abstractions, the conjectures of rich, productive minds).

“You don’t need crutches (gurus) of any kind.  You can walk alone without crutches. If you still fall, your knees and elbows will put you back on your two feet. You will get up and walk…” (Your single decision to walk alone is your ticket to freedom from all kinds of harmful dependencies, spiritual or otherwise).

“This body is designed to handle any crisis, physical or psychological, even when hit with the worst psychological trauma in life, the body knows how to handle it, the consciousness cuts off for some time, you fall asleep, and when you wake up, you are once again fully charged and ready to move on with your life” (Stop looking for all outside help, your natural built-in resources are enough to handle any crisis in life).  

Then UG goes on to offer us an invaluable tip in identifying the real guru (‘if there is one’),

“The real guru is one who frees you from himself.”  

And finally, here a golden rule to avoid all kinds of spiritual traps,

“Test every word of what I say, or someone else says, find out for yourself and by yourself whether it is true or not, else reject.” - UG

****

UG not only cautions the followers, but also points to the dangers and traps awaiting even the well-meaning gurus.

"If anyone thinks he can help you, he will inevitably mislead you. And the less phony he is, the more enlightened he is, the more misery and mischief he will create for you!” - UG

UG does acknowledge here that not all wannabe gurus are conmen, there could be some fine men and women with right intentions but still deluded (‘do-gooders’).

But the decision to go public, to gather followers (loka sangraham, लोक संग्रहं), to form spiritual groups, to build ashrams, is fraught with great danger and is extremely risky. Here, even the noble ones, well-intentioned ones could go astray.

Many are initially reluctant to go public, to start ashrams or organisations but eventually they succumb to the sentiments of followers.

Many gurus lack the clarity and courage to say ‘NO’! They turn into puppets in the hands of followers.

“You (seekers) are the ones who put them(gurus) on the pedestal giving them their power, without you, they are nobodies” - UG

Playing guru or influencer is narcotizing, giving a spiritual ‘high’.

Also, when the guru goes public, he or she could easily become the target of sinister machinations by phonies and flunkies masquerading as followers.

The gurus are completely trapped in their own game and get dragged into cults and movements.

****

Spiritual land is a tantalizing minefield.

Spiritual circus is all about gurus and seekers, about mutual exploitation. It is a deadly interplay of authority, power, and control.  

The real courage is to refuse to play god, or seek one!

****

 Video Transcription:

Nobody like that (you) anywhere, on this planet, unique, unparalleled…It will express itself, but then you don’t go around the world telling people ‘I am unique, there is no one like me, I am the one and the only one’. No, not at all!

You are calling me unique; I will never tell myself that I am a unique being. I can tell you, but you will not come to me and thank me, ‘my encounter with you has helped me to come into my own, to become me’, no!

Nor will I be fooled by what you are saying. That is the end of it.

You will not go anywhere and ask anyone, THAT’S THE ONLY ACID TEST!

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Hacking the ‘self’ – the UG way!

UG on ‘self’ or ‘I’:

‘Self’ is the ‘movement of knowledge’ - UG

This video clip is ‘Quintessential UG’. Here, in the very beginning, UG knocks off the ‘self’, ‘I’, ‘soul’ etc., dismissing them as pure fabrications of the psychological kind, with no reality or basis whatsoever.

UG offers a whole new rationale for the appearance of the ‘self’. He maintains that the virtual ‘self’ or ‘agent’ comes into play when there is a need or demand for knowledge.

Knowledge is put into motion when there is a need, say, while planning a trip or seeking a job or finding a solution to a problem.

‘UG’ appears whenever there is a need or demand.’ – UG

Knowledge in motion is ‘thinking’ and thinking gives rise to the illusion of the ‘thinker’ or the ‘self’ or the ‘doer’. It is all a unitary process.

Even the very thought that there is a ‘thinker’ does not occur while there is thinking going on.

Thinker is a logical conclusion, a ‘post hoc’ illusion, an after-effect of thinking.

The entire structure of Western Philosophy is premised upon a single sentence, “Cogito ergo sum” – “I think, therefore I am”. This logical, verbal assertion single-handedly legitimizes the ‘thinker’ or ‘self’ making it into a reality for the philosophers.

The suggestion here is that as long as there is thinking, there is bound to be an agent or thinker associated with it. Corollaries of this statement include - one, no thinking is possible without a thinker and two, there is no thinker without thinking.

Contrast this with the Eastern traditions including observation of UG,

“There is only thought but no thinker.”

To borrow words of UG, the truth about the thinker is only a logically ascertained premise.

Thinker is a stubborn illusion like that of a shadow. As long as there is light, there is the shadow, as long as there is ‘thinking’ there is the ‘thinker’.

While there exists a physiological entity, biologically programmed to survive and operate independently in nature, the psychological agent or the ‘self’ is purely incidental and is born during every social transaction as the ‘agent’ of such transaction.

While banking, one is a 'customer', while paying tax, one is a citizen etc.

‘Self’ is therefore necessitated by the social demand or need.

****
UG on 'intellect':

Let us now de-construct the ‘intellect’ in light of UG’s many utterings.

Intellect is the psychological power-center and the de-facto ‘decision maker’ birthed and shaped by culture, honed by education, experience and knowledge over the years.

Intellect is actually a formidable instrument, the tool of discretion and discrimination, of refined thought, of reasoning and logic. The accumulated, curated ‘knowledge and experience’ forms the basis for ‘intellect’.

Intellect empowers the individual to live sanely and intelligently in society and guarantees livelihood and sustenance. The key to good living is the way the intellect gets deployed. It could make for either great fortune or grave calamity.

Intellect plays a huge role in our day-to-day living.

It is a fact that every physical sensation gets filtered by the intellect.
Intellect turns physical ‘sensations’ into psychological ‘perceptions.’

The raw sensations of stimuli (‘qualia’ of philosophers) like heat, cold, soft, hard etc. are handled by biology, while ‘perceptions’ are acts of interpretations by the intellect.

Every sensation is translated, recorded and gets stored as ‘experience’ by the intellect for its future use, for its perpetuation and continuity.

The mere biological ‘sensation’ of ‘heat’ gets smeared with a psychological ‘layering’ by the intellect and gets perceived as either ‘pleasant’ or ‘moderate’ or ‘unbearable’.

This is true of everything that we see, hear or experience.

Every experience or perception is therefore a smearing act by the intellect.

UG makes this distinction clear as daylight, “There is no experience without knowledge.”

Here is an interesting observation by Sage Vasishta about perception:

“ चेत्येना रहिता यैशा चित्तंब्रह्म सनातनं ...”

‘Awareness without perception’ is the eternal principle of primordial Life…
(Upashama Prakaranam, Yoga Vaasishta)

****
UG on ‘understanding’:

“Understanding is nothing but hashing and rehashing of thoughts” - UG

UG maintains that ‘understanding’ is an act of the intellect, an act of clarification, an act of hashing or rehashing, ordering or reordering of thoughts, to look out for any confirming patterns. This act then throws up different and new forms of the same old knowledge and experience like the old wine in a new bottle.

Superior intellect facilitates superior understanding to form educated, informed inferences or postulates or surmises. All concepts, theories, doctrines take birth in such ‘understandings ’.

Oftentimes, simple but extraordinary outcomes born of such understanding are mistaken for flashes of ‘creativity.’

UG totally debunks human creativity,

“The fact is nature is truly creative. Every leaf, every flower, every plant, every animal and individual, is utterly unique and unparalleled. It never repeats or reproduces one like the other.”

All human imagination, invention, innovation and creativity is nothing but the ingenious ability of the intellect to recast old forms of 'knowledge and experience' into their new forms. Everything here is just a modified continuity of the old stock.

“Nothing or no one is original.” - UG

****
Finally, UG on ‘insight’:

‘Intuition’ or ‘insight’ is yet another highly convoluted and misunderstood term in the psychological jargon.

It is conceived as a rare form of ‘direct perception’ beyond thought or intellect. This misconception is widespread. Insight is held to be independent, subtler and far superior to intellect, and capable of providing direct, magical results.

For UG, insight is just another piece of fabrication,

“Intellect has created what we call the 'insight'.”

The idea of insight is deeply entrenched in our minds.

One becomes an expert in any field of knowledge after putting in dozens of years of single-minded, relentless, dedicated hard work.

When the expert employs his or her ‘understanding’ (‘the lens of knowledge and experience’) to discover or uncover some hitherto unknown facet or fact in his or her particular area of work, we tend to think of it as an act of great ‘intuition’ or ‘insight.’

UG dismissed insight as nothing special but merely the outcome of constant churning of thoughts. He explained that any expert in his or her own field of expertise who spends all waking hours on solving some problem or the other is bound to discover some pattern or solution or answer.

But UG maintains that all ‘insights’ are restricted only to a particular domain of expertise, and not beyond. He concludes,

“Intellect is the only instrument we have, and there is no other instrument” - UG.

****

Video Transcription

UG:  There is no self,

there is no ‘I’, there is no spirit, there is no soul, there is no mind, there is no psyche, so that knocks off the whole list…

There is no way of finding out what you are left with.

The instrument which we are using, has, in a very ingenuous way invented all kinds of things like intuition, like insight and like this, that and the other and through this very insight that we think we have come to understand something, without the help of this intellect, without the help of our thinking, is the stumbling block.

All insights, however extraordinary they may be, are worthless because it is that (intellect) that has created what we call the insight, and through that it is maintaining its continuity, it is maintaining its status quo.

Q: I think, I might understand that but what I am still trying to pursue is the physical side of this, if I could, which is this – that clearly it is observable– the human organs and their interrelated functions all work harmoniously into an integrated healthy body.

UG: They messed up even that…it is not possible to experience and understand except through the knowledge that is given to us by the physiologists.

Q: Not by our own observation? There is no experience?

UG: There is no such thing as your own observation. Your own observation is born out of the knowledge you have.

This knowledge comes from the physiologists, this knowledge comes from those who have been involved in this medical technology, trying to find out how this is functioning, how the heart is functioning, before lot of things that we have become familiar with, through the help of what they have discovered, is something which cannot be experienced by us.

Q: Then you are really saying that there is no such thing as direct, immediate experience.

UG: No experience at all without knowledge, that’s all that I am saying. There is no way you can experience reality of anything except with the help of this knowledge.

So, what I am saying is what you do not know, you cannot experience.

****

 

“We can''t (even) live together if you don't believe in what others' believe.” - UG

“You are nothing but belief, and when it dies, you are dead." - UG

We cannot live with another individual, or be part of a family or group if we don’t believe what they believe.

Belief is the entry ticket to coexistence. Not sharing or accepting beliefs of others could mean – ‘no admission’ to the group or worse, the threat of expulsion from the group.

Come to think of it, all our social or political structures are nothing but institutionalized beliefs.

In any social group (including the WhatsApp or Facebook Groups), there is always some form of group dynamic, an element of control, to ensure status quo.

Group dynamics are a ‘soft’ form of control, a power-play where willing members are reined in by ‘the group mind’, an invisible power-center.

Unspoken, unwritten rules (norms) guide activities of many social groups. Rules about how to solidify beliefs, how to recruit members into the fold, how to indoctrinate newbies, how to chastise dissenters, how to rehabilitate deviants ensure the status quo and continuity of the group.

‘Sense of belonging’ is a powerful motive deep-rooted in the human psyche.

Without subscribing to some form of belief, without affiliation to some group, one feels empty, crippled, lost and lonely.

****

Is it then possible to free oneself from the tyranny of beliefs and groups and ‘to function sanely and intelligently’ in a society?

UG emphasized three things to be on our own and not to succumb to any influence of a group or a belief system:

First, ‘Brutal honesty’ - this is the place to start with.

Honesty is to see things for what they are, to see or own one’s flaws or ugliness, to junk pretense or fakery, and to dare to be ordinary and real.  

At the same time, it is important not to escape reality by ‘trying to become someone’, or ‘following some model.’  All such efforts will only help keep the old, ugly ‘self’ continuing in a modified form.

UG therefore asked us to STOP, to drop all movement in any direction, at any level, in any dimension.

Self’ is the ‘movement of knowledge’ -UG.

Second, UG spoke of ‘uncompromising and uncomplaining self-reliance.’  

(Psychological) dependence is the beginning of all corruption or corrosion or compromise.

With self-reliance, one gains the ability to say ‘No’ to all falsehoods and fake relationships.

The more one becomes self-reliant, the less is the psychological burden, more the freedom to follow the dictates of one’s heart.

And finally, the third, the ‘the courage to stand alone.’

With ‘brutal honesty’ and ‘uncompromising self-reliance’ already in place, one is naturally freed from the stranglehold of societal dictates, norms and beliefs.

That bestows the strength or courage to walk alone.   

 

****

Video Transcript:

 

“IF THE BELIEF COMES TO AN END, ‘YOU’ WILL COME TO AN END”

     - UG

Q: So, you don’t have any belief system, but does that make your life a little bit empty if you don’t believe anything…

UG: I want to assert, and I have time and again asserted this point that there is only a belief there, there is no believer. So, you are that belief. What you call ‘you’. It doesn’t matter whether you believe in God or whether you believe in the assertions of the scientists or value the assertions that President Bush makes time and again that ‘I will see Americans will have the same standard of living forever.’ You invest your faith in that guy…because he is asserting you know, like that.

So, there is no believer there! You don’t have to take my word, you see, there is only a belief. You are that belief, what you call ‘you’ is that belief. It doesn’t matter what that belief is – whether you believe in God or whether you believe in love or whether you believe in this, that and the other.

So, if that belief comes to an end, you as you know yourself and you experience yourself is coming to an end.

Q: When I die, my shit box goes.

UG:  It goes first, before that, what you call clinical death cannot take place, cannot occur.

So, if that goes now, you will drop dead at this moment. What will remain after that is not your interest, is not your concern because you are not going to be there to tell yourself that you are dead.

So, those who say that you are dead, and define it as clinical death, use their knowledge and tell you that you are not breathing, you are not responding to that stimulus, there is no pulse there, using the knowledge and they say that you are dead, but the fact that you are dead is something which cannot be experienced by you or even by them or even by those beloved ones. What they experience is not the death of their dear, near ones, but the void created by what you call death makes it impossible for them to live the same kind of a life forever, you know.

So, for all practical purposes, there is no such thing as death for the body. Birth and death is a simultaneous process. The moment you are born, you have to die!

Birth is a definition, death is a definition, health is a definition, disease is a definition – all these are definitions. We swallow all those definitions. And we think we know what they are talking about. They don’t know, nothing. Nothiong at all!

So, they assert based upon what they think that they have found out through their research projects or through their beliefs passed on to us from generation to generation. So, the assertion that there is no believer but there is only belief cannot be accepted by you. IF THE BELIEF COMES TO AN END, ‘YOU’ WILL COME TO AN END. So, you cannot but replace one belief with another belief.

****

“WE CAN’T LIVE TOGETHER IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE”

                                                                                                                  - UG

So, you have to accept all that (beliefs), for what? We can’t (even) live together if you don’t believe (and accept the beliefs of others), in our (own) homes. You know they force us to eat the same kind of a food…

I was not interested in that (societal belief system), I was only interested in my want. Whatever I want, they(society) didn’t want me to want.

My family members, my teachers, everyone (society) - you should want this, and not that!

****

UG is the Blackhole - Luc Sala

UG is the Blackhole, Interview with Luc Sala:   

       

https://youtu.be/ssl77Xl1hXU?si=Ez-HJvepgweWK2gX                                                     

In this hour-long rivetting video, UG is uncompromising and throwing out everything we hold sacred and dear. He is dismantling all that is ‘known’ –theories, beliefs, institutions, and value systems.

Calling the bluff, “Life has no grander purpose than the mosquito sucking your blood”, UG makes us see things for what they are.

In UG’s hard hitting words, “To be free from the need to be free” lies the restoration of life’s balance and normalcy. 

‘To be free from the need to be free’ is true freedom, freedom from all mental chimeras or delusions. This is the real “Stopping in our tracks.”

In his ‘scorched-earth’ tirade against all spiritual undertakings or psychological adventures, UG boots out false search or hope (especially of the psychological or spiritual kind).

Hope is the dope for psychological continuity. Hope fuels thinking, spurring the mind. 

But false hope begets hopelessness and restlessness, guzzling away huge amounts of our energy and vitality.

Most importantly, hope hijacks perception, giving rise to delusions and distortions.

UG surgically goes about uprooting even the tiny remnants of search or hope. This is scary stuff. But when we begin to see the futility of false search and the profound wisdom of his words, we actually become hope-free and grounded. 

Being hope-free or goal-free, is to be free from the tyranny of the mind. It is real healing, unburdening and rejuvenating. 

   ***

Here is a close parallel from an ancient classic, Ribhu Gita, hailed as an exposition on meta-meditation:

किंचिदस्ति इति चेच्चिते सर्वं भवति शीघ्र अतः।

यत्किञ्चित किमापि क्वापि न अस्ति चेन्न प्रसाज्यति।

kincidastiti ceccitte sarvarh bhavati sighrataha.

yatkincit kimapi kvapi nasti cenna prasajyati.

(“Even if there is a little of the ‘mind’ (hope), it soon becomes all. If there is no little, nothing arises whatsoever, or wherever.”)

                             - Ribhu Gita (4-28), 

Ribhu Gita is hailed by Sri Ramana Maharshi as one of the greatest classics offering the closest description of his own state. 

In Ribhu Gita, a sagely figure Ribhu, a close parallel to UG, goes about surgically discrediting all that is ‘known’, brushing aside all gods, scriptures, institutions, traditions, names and forms, to try and quell the stirrings of the mind of his acolyte Nidagha. 

But here, the end-game is still ‘samadhi’ (spiritual goal).

UG, in a major departure from all other sagely figures, fiercely tore down one of the most acclaimed spiritual practices in the Eastern tradition – the negation approach (‘neti, neti’ - ‘not this’, ‘not this’). 

UG pointed out that negation is very much fraught with desire or hope to attain some positive outcome – a state of enlightenment or samadhi. 

For UG ‘neti, neti’ therefore, is not a rejection but quite the opposite- the affirmation, the assertion of a goal, a spiritual grail. It puts one on a merry go round, on an ego trip, once again maintaining and nourishing the false ‘self’, defeating the very purpose. 

Spiritual goals and undertakings could indeed be enticing traps. There is always the danger that false hope could push someone into a real state of despondence and delusion with dire consequences.

“There is no oasis situated yonder; you are stuck with the mirage.” - UG

                                 ****

A note from Chandrasekhar Babu:

'Labeling U.G.'s message as "negative" is the mind's defense mechanism - an attempt to discredit and invalidate that which it perceives as an annihilating force capable of dismantling its deeply entrenched structures of thought and identity.'

                               

                                   ****

Transcription of the video clip

Luc Sala: “Not much left! …that’s the main story. UG Krishnamurti, every time I talk with you, you leave me with nothing. I would call you the big Blackhole of our knowledge. Everything that we can dream of, as being relevant, as having meaning, goes into UG’s Blackhole and disappears…

UG: I don’t see any Blackhole.

LS: Well, for me, you are! You are like the way they (what you call), our illusions disappear, I don’t know what is behind the Blackhole, neither do you…

UG: I don’t see any Blackhole there…you see a Blackhole there?

LS: Whatever I see, you make the weapon smoke !

UG: There is a very comforting thing for you to believe that I am a Blackhole.

LS: Even to believe Blackhole, isn’t there…We spoke with UG Krishnamurti, 50 years ago he came to Holland and for about 50 years , he did away with his being associated with Theosophical Society, and everything India stood for and I believe everything that the Western world…

UG: Everything human thought has come up with, everything was thrown out of my system, I am a very lucky guy, I have been freed from the stranglehold of the human thought and I CANNOT BE OF ANY HELP TO ANYBODY BECAUSE, YOU DON’T NEED ANY HELP!

LS: Wow… To feel free from the need to be…

UG: To be free from the need to be free

LS: To be free from the need to be free, That’s a paradox…

UG: It sounds like a paradox…It’s a fact!

LS: To be free from the need to be free

UG: There is nothing there to be free from…

WOW !!!

****

" What kind of human being you want in this world? " - UG

 

" What kind of human being you want in this world? "

Knowledge is a societal inheritance, the collective experience and thinking of mankind from time immemorial.

Some of our material and spiritual goals take their birth in the experience and thoughts of men and women we hold in great awe and esteem. We tend to eulogize and emulate their thoughts and behaviors.

Society showcases two contradictory models or archetypes for our emulation – the first is symbolized by the King (the ruler or the achiever or the top dog in any field) epitomizing the material goals. The second is the Savior (the saint or the philosopher or the guru) evangelizing the spiritual goals. Both models are dangled as worthy of our lifetime pursuit.

There is also the third kind, the hybrid model of the ‘Philosopher-King’ or the ‘Sage-Ruler’ (the benign-leader).

We are brainwashed from childhood to believe that achievement of material goals or the attainment of spiritual goals as the be-all and end-all of our life.

“Your spiritual goals are not different from the material goals” - UG. He maintained that both are fundamentally self-serving or self-seeking activities.

Spiritual goals are mere psychological wants. Psychology is a societal burden, a superimposition on the biology, the root cause of mental anguish.

Wanting to be someone, to be superior, to be different from others is a fake, unnatural undertaking. Not only it involves huge effort and energy, it is the root cause of frustration, restlessness and hopelessness.

“Wanting and thinking always go together – as long as you want something, there is thinking.” - UG.  

Greater the seeking, greater the needless thinking, greater is the misery!

 

****

Frustration could arise when someone is chasing some impossible or unachievable goal. Also, when there is an incompatibile goal that contradicts one’s true nature.

UG addressed both these issues in his inimitable ways. He personally helped many individuals through timely intervention. He made some give up their jobs to pursue business instead ( a la banker Nagesh who went on to establish a successful business in Realty Finance) , he made some give up their business to take up a public career ( a la Frank Noronha who gave up tea business and ended up as the Chief Spokesperson for the Government of India), he encouraged some to embrace saffron ( a la Lahiri, an Indian businessman from Europe) while influencing others to give up  saffron ( a la Udipi Swamiji).  

The guidance was always finetuned and calibrated to suit the needs of the particular individual to mitigate the suffering born of impossible or incompatible goals.

****

A note from Chandrasekhar Babu, UG's longtime friend and host:

In the year 1983 while I was employed with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Bangalore, I got a lucrative offer from a private company in Hyderabad. I went to meet UG who was at the time staying at Goldie's (Film Director Vijay Anand) guest house in Mumbai.

After learning about the new job offer, UG said, "Do you have to relocate to Hyderabad? What a shame!" 

To drive home the absurdity of the choice, he quoted a Telugu proverb, " ఇంత బతకు బతికి ఇంటి వెనక చచ్చాడాన్నట్లు" ("After living life king-size, dying like an outcast!")

UG advised me not to accept the offer.

Soon after, I got a fantastic offer from Hindustan Motors, closer to Bangalore. UG readily approved. I left Hindustan Aeronautics to join HM. 

Years later, once again UG played a key role in my opting for voluntary retirement from service in 1992. I was 47 at the time, with at least a dozen more years of service under my belt. 

I complied with UG's advice, resigning from service on the 9th of July 1992, incidentally on UG's 74th birthday!

My stint with Valentine Model School commenced soon after. 

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Transcript of the Video Clip:

UG: The basic question we all have to ask is, “What kind of a human being you want in this world?”

( Q: the goal of psychiatrists etc.)

UG: We have unfortunately placed before mankind the models of a perfect being. THAT PERFECT BEING IS THE SPIRITUAL TEACHER AND HIS BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS. AND THE WHOLE VALUE SYSTEM IS BORN OUT OF THAT.

And our insistence and demand, on the part of culture and the value system, to fit them all into that mold is bound to fail, because every individual is unique, UNIQUE!

Nature is not interested in creating the human species in one common mold, it is interested in creating different species, it does not use anything as a model, that’s where we have gone wrong. Because of the fear that the status quo of our culture or society or whatever you want to call it, cannot be maintained if we do not fit all the people into that value system.

I am not against the value system at all, but the demand to fit everybody into a common mold, which is the value system, is responsible for the breaking up or breaking down of many people. They have given up.

And the so-called normal man, if there is any, he lives in hope and dies in hope, (that) one day he is going to successfully fit himself into that value system very successfully, and live in harmony with that. And the mad people have given up and so, we are pushing them to make them functional and it is the very thing that is pushing them to suicide.

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“NOT GETTING WHAT YOU WANT is sorrow, is frustration” – UG

Mahesh Bhatt sparring with UG

The Real McCoys or sages are grounded and purposeless. They go about leading ordinary lives, completely engaged (but not involved) in the mundane affairs of life.

The real men and women shy away from all recognition and reputation, staying clear of ceremony and pomp, security and fortification. The Real McCoy is never caught in the trappings of a Pope or a jagad-guru. (“If Jesus had security, there would be no Christianity.” – UG to Mahesh Bhatt pointing to the heavily-guarded Vatican).

Sages never hesitate to speak out or act when they sense danger or harm either to the community or an individual. When circumstances demand courage and wisdom, they are ready and willing to forsake their reputation and even their lives to avert a crisis or prevent harm.

The sagely utterings and sayings are all born in such benign interventions. Like the sudden onset of an earthquake, or the abrupt eruption of a volcano, the outpourings are extempore speeches or statements, not delivered from the convenience and comfort of pulpits or platforms.

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The timeless classic of Bhagwad Gita was birthed right in the middle of a pitched battle when Sri Krishna got engaged in a dialogue with a deluded and despondent Arjuna who had given up his resolve to fight even before the war started.

The iconic warrior had ironically succumbed to his own internal enemies, the demons of dichotomy, unable to choose between his ‘duty’ (to fight injustice) and ‘loyalty’ (to his elders and teachers standing against him in the opposition camp), he was clueless about his response, completely muddled and utterly perplexed!

This is the deceptive power of a conditioned mind under the vicious grip of a hypocritical value system.

Sri Krishna does not waste time and embarks on the discourse of Gita, exorcising the demons of delusion in Arjuna who then readily embraces ‘duty’ over ‘loyalty’, ‘rightness’ over ‘uprightness’ accomplishing his goal.

Gita has since become a beacon for all those battling with demons of despondence and delusion.

The famous epic Bhagavatam similarly came about during a personal crisis. It was delivered by the sage Suka to King Parikshit while the latter was on a death sentence through snakebite because of a curse.

Socrates gave his famous ‘Defense Speech’ before his death sentence through consumption of the deadly hemlock.

Jesus delivered his momentous sermon while ascending the gallows.

The sagely Nisargadutta Maharaj, on his way to organize his wife’s funeral, stopped short and wholeheartedly addressed the concerns of a spiritual seeker, on a road-side chat, while the seeker remained oblivious to the circumstances.

All of them acted promptly in response to people overwhelmed by their struggles and crises.

Contrast all this with the bogus speeches of today’s platform-gurus. The scripted speeches are filled with cheap platitudes and palliatives, full of entertaining quotes, jokes and stories. They are completely stage-managed by army of cronies, time-bound, carrying huge price tags, pepped up by ceremony and music, in club-class comfort creating the ambience of a ‘spiritual spa’.

Platform performances and con artists in the spiritual business are far removed from harsh realities of life.

The real ‘awakening’ is more like ‘a kick in the gut’ by a sagely character and a grim reminder of reality.

Intense exchanges of friends with UG are real kickers filled with raw energy and emotions.

Only those who remained brutally honest, and prepared for the gut-punches could get into the ‘ring’ with UG, and survive the intense pressure and heat, and the relentless body blows.

A countable few really dared to ‘take the bull by the horn’ teasing out some of the finest repartees from UG, true gifts for posterity.

We are grateful to these daring men and women.

Here is such a high-voltage encounter between the fiery UG and a vicious Mahesh Bhatt.

In this rare clip, UG is holding forte, pushing the envelope and ‘frustrating’ his longtime friend Mahesh Bhatt.

Mahesh is forcefully pushing back, here, he is the very personification of vehemence, taunting UG and touting JK, making a case for ‘frustration’, and doggedly defending the ‘reality of frustration’. He is genuinely and fiercely rooting for ‘freedom from frustration or sorrow’ (some common ‘JK themes’ – familiar to many ‘JK-widows’)

UG, as usual, is unperturbed and nonchalant, brushing aside the rationale for ‘the reality of frustration’ advanced by a rebellious Mahesh.

UG has the last word and nails it, “All your romanticized pain, sorrow or frustration are rooted in NOT GETTING WHAT YOU WANT.” Period!

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Our unfulfilled wants or desires, feelings of hopelessness or pathos, make for rich mental imagery and juicy word-salads. These could be spun into romantic poetry, into drama, movie scripts, into profound philosophical or intellectual or spiritual doctrines (‘the doctrine of suffering’), into enchanting writings and discourses by skilled pundits or wordsmiths.

Words solidify experiences, letting us relive a moment of joy or pain or loss giving it a life and momentum of its own.

Society has always glorified and celebrated verbalization. The gigantic collection of books in world’s libraries is a testament.

Wordsmiths who lack empathy and the sagely wisdom could easily weaponize the words with enormous consequences for humanity.

Only a sage could exorcise the demon of verbalisation. 

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Transcription of the video clip: 

UG: Its all bullshit. Nothing else. What’s sorrow, you are talking about?

Q: No you keep on saying, something which we are battling with every now and then, that it’s not there!

What’s it that there?

Q: It is there!

UG: What is there, you tell me?

Q: I am frustrated! Frustration is concrete. Sorrow is concrete here! You just say it’s not there!

UG: Where is it?

Q: It’s there inside of me. It is there.

UG: Because it’s not there, the vehemence is coming! Its’s not there,

Q: It is there

UG: Where?

Q: I feel it inside my body, as a physical ache, I feel

( The dialogue gets repeated)  

UG: It is throwing out, that nonsense!

Q: What is throwing out?

UG: It is not throwing out, you are talking about it, it is not there.

Q: Where?

UG: You say it is there, I say it is not there, that’s the end of all conversation, finish!

Q: For you its not there,

UG: For you also its not there, you are just talking about that nonsense

Q: It is there for me and it is there for everyone.

UG: I don’t see, how is it expressing itself?

Q: You are the only person for whom, it does not seem to be there

UG: No, no, no, it’s not there

Q: That’s why a man like J Krishnamurti or a writer like that makes more sense to me than you

UG: Certainly

Q: This Frustration makes more sense to me. I relate to that frustration and not to you. You don’t seem to understand what we are talking about.

UG: I understand you.

No. I don’t think so. You say there is no sorrow, no despair, no frustration.

UG: Why you are still trying to be free from that frustration

That’s my whole tragedy is, I am still trying to…

UG: Why you are still (trying to?), YOU HAVE NO PROBLEMS…

‘NOT GETTING WHAT YOU WANT’

is sorrow, is frustration – UG

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Go anywhere, do anything you want, that’s the only thing I am saying.

All frustration, write poetry, some nonsense, some romantic stuff, what frustration? What is it you are doing? I don’t see any frustration!

I have frustration (mocking), what the hell you are talking about?

NOT GETTING WHAT YOU WANT, THAT’S THE FRUSTRATION!

WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT?

You want to be free from frustration, then you want me to tell you ‘how I can be free from frustration?’, That ( the effort or yearning to free oneself) is the one that keeps the frustration there.

The HOW is related to the frustration. So, you don’t want to be free from frustration. You want to live with it, romanticize it, and make movies and make money, sit on a platform and talk about it – ‘don’t condemn it, don’t justify it, don’t identify yourself with frustration, be choicelessly aware of that…

ONE WHO IS CHOICELESSLY AWARE OF THE FRUSTRATION IS THE FRUSTRATION!

There is no other frustration other than the bastard’s (JK) statement – ‘choicelessly aware of frustration’ – THAT IS THE FRUSTRATION!

Because you will never be free from that, that’s a joke – ‘be choicelessly aware of frustration’, just look at it, that (frustration) doesn’t exist. (It’s) the only thing that exists(are) his empty words, that you have picked up from somewhere else. That’s all. So you don’t want to be free from that.

If you are really interested in freeing yourself from that which you are not (a frustrated human), that shit (all empty words and borrowed ideas) must go…