These are a few thoughts generated after reading two phenomenal books by Eckhart Tolle- "The Power of NOW' and " The New Earth" :-
Thoughts - Where do they originate from? Are they a reflection of our past experiences? That means we are always bonded to our past and all our actions that succeed a thought are based on a judgement which is based on our past experience. How true are those judgements? Are the perceptions fragmented as we are missing out the larger vision while looking with coloured filters at situations based on our past experiences which are absolutely specific and personal to each one of us and though it may share similarities with many other people, it still belongs to that individual only and therefore is not a universal truth. Then what is the UNIVERSAL TRUTH? Is it something mystical and special that is known only to the enlightened and that all normal human beings will always keep striving to learn about that ?
Thoughts - Where do they originate from? Are they a reflection of our past experiences? That means we are always bonded to our past and all our actions that succeed a thought are based on a judgement which is based on our past experience. How true are those judgements? Are the perceptions fragmented as we are missing out the larger vision while looking with coloured filters at situations based on our past experiences which are absolutely specific and personal to each one of us and though it may share similarities with many other people, it still belongs to that individual only and therefore is not a universal truth. Then what is the UNIVERSAL TRUTH? Is it something mystical and special that is known only to the enlightened and that all normal human beings will always keep striving to learn about that ?
A Lot to introspect, isnt it? I was intrigued when I read many books related to J Krishnamurti, Eckhart Tolle etc. and realised one thing... there was a deep connection or correlation between all the literature related to spiritual leaders or writers, be it Vippasana, Art of living, Sankaracharya, Sai Baba, Prophet Mohammed, Jesus Christ, Guru Gobind Singh etc. etc.
What is that---> All spirituality leads to a single direction and that is " INWARDS".
This is very difficult to understand, because most of us think that our thoughts are our innards. But have we ever tried to observe our thoughts in silence? If we try this, we will see that there are two entities-- mind and life or should I say energies . The life energy is independent and activates without any control and is actually the "now' moment or the present, whereas the mind energy keeps fluctuating between the past and the present. Don't we feel the minute silence/ blank between two successive thoughts. It is that in between silence which is the actual life energy. What if we were able to extend this moment more and more where there is no thought? Is it possible to do that? IS IT NOT ESCAPISM FROM REALITY? What is reality then, our thoughts or the blank space between two thoughts?
How many times have we really observed the beauty of life all around us? Do we hear the birds really in the mornings, rustling of the leaves, fluttering of the wind. Everything is alive and buzzing around us, but how conscious are we about them? Are our thoughts keeping us away from this reality? Is being aware of this reality important? Keeping our mind in a thoughtless space actually makes us aware of everything that is alive and everything is alive, only we were never "CONSCIOUS". So what is consciousness?
Here I correlate with Vippasana. When we practice Vippasana, we feel different sensations because our mind has become sharp and is focussed on the present, basically we are attuning ourselves with our life energy and seeing all subtleties that exist within this physical frame of our bodies. The thinking mind is put to rest and our observation in silence of various subtleties is bringing us towards the reality of life or the Universal Truth of impermanence of everything around us and teaches us to be equanimous in all situations whether they are pleasurable or painful. This is an absolute state of consciousness which takes us inwards such that we are able to isolate ourselves from our habitual mind that used to always jump from past to future keeping us away from the present.
It is very important not to attach any labels here for eg. Vippasana or any other style for that matter because the mind is a game master and will easily deceive you into believing and making this experience as a recording and again slowly push you back into the usual "unconscious" stage of mind fluctuating from past to future etc. Acceptance of the present and trying to be aware and conscious of all life around us at each and every moment as we perform our functions will probably help us to slowly change our habit pattern and take us closer to the reality or the universal truth of consciousness away from the thought filled mind which clouds you with fear, negativity and self- deceit.
What is that---> All spirituality leads to a single direction and that is " INWARDS".
This is very difficult to understand, because most of us think that our thoughts are our innards. But have we ever tried to observe our thoughts in silence? If we try this, we will see that there are two entities-- mind and life or should I say energies . The life energy is independent and activates without any control and is actually the "now' moment or the present, whereas the mind energy keeps fluctuating between the past and the present. Don't we feel the minute silence/ blank between two successive thoughts. It is that in between silence which is the actual life energy. What if we were able to extend this moment more and more where there is no thought? Is it possible to do that? IS IT NOT ESCAPISM FROM REALITY? What is reality then, our thoughts or the blank space between two thoughts?
How many times have we really observed the beauty of life all around us? Do we hear the birds really in the mornings, rustling of the leaves, fluttering of the wind. Everything is alive and buzzing around us, but how conscious are we about them? Are our thoughts keeping us away from this reality? Is being aware of this reality important? Keeping our mind in a thoughtless space actually makes us aware of everything that is alive and everything is alive, only we were never "CONSCIOUS". So what is consciousness?
Here I correlate with Vippasana. When we practice Vippasana, we feel different sensations because our mind has become sharp and is focussed on the present, basically we are attuning ourselves with our life energy and seeing all subtleties that exist within this physical frame of our bodies. The thinking mind is put to rest and our observation in silence of various subtleties is bringing us towards the reality of life or the Universal Truth of impermanence of everything around us and teaches us to be equanimous in all situations whether they are pleasurable or painful. This is an absolute state of consciousness which takes us inwards such that we are able to isolate ourselves from our habitual mind that used to always jump from past to future keeping us away from the present.
It is very important not to attach any labels here for eg. Vippasana or any other style for that matter because the mind is a game master and will easily deceive you into believing and making this experience as a recording and again slowly push you back into the usual "unconscious" stage of mind fluctuating from past to future etc. Acceptance of the present and trying to be aware and conscious of all life around us at each and every moment as we perform our functions will probably help us to slowly change our habit pattern and take us closer to the reality or the universal truth of consciousness away from the thought filled mind which clouds you with fear, negativity and self- deceit.
Awesome insight Naveen:)
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