Identifying the Self

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A group of us are blessed to have the support of a lady volunteering from a well established Spiritual Growth movement to help us with our own spiritual growth. We try to have a session every month during which we explore different aspects of personal growth.

During our last session, she skillfully took us through an examination of what we meant when we said "I" or "my". The learning was quite profound. Following the session, I captured my personal understanding of what we had covered, which I shared with the group. I then went on to expand my summary into an article aimed for a more general audience.

In my article, I removed personal references and included material which I had gleaned from other sources. I basically identified 4 layers we usually associate with the self and expanded on their roles. This is explained in more detail in the associated Page.

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Nothing in Nature Lives for Itself

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There are several popular memes in the social media attributing to Pope Francis a beautiful poem about the sharing character of nature. Fact checking has verified that those attributions are false. There are suggestions that the words were first uttered by Chanakya (also known as Kautilya), an ancient Indian philosopher and strategist from the 4th century BCE. However, there is no definitive source in his known writings that matches this poem word-for-word.

This is very likely a modern poetic rendering of traditional Indian wisdom, possibly inspired by verses from Sanskrit or Pali scriptures. There has also been a suggestion that it may be from African native wisdom. Whatever the case, it is an important learning for us.

Gratitude is a natural state

Our interaction with the world around us is a dynamic one. All forms within this physical realm interact naturally in harmony, guided by the embedded script. This ranges from the minutest of subatomic particles to the most enormous astronomical bodies. The universe is able to operate smoothly and harmoniously in natural give and take relationships.
Humans, distracted by intellect, have lost touch with the embedded guidance and end up developing artificial interactions. When we allow ourselves to feel the guidance, our interactions become more harmonious.

Much of the gratitude we see around us is cultivated from childhood, when children are taught to show gratitude. They are constantly reminded to say thank you when given things. This becomes a cultivated attitude.

It is not wrong but, for our humanity to flower fully, it is not enough. We need to open ourselves to the world and realise the reality of our interdependence with everything around us. We need to recognise how our life is supported by so many processes. We need to learn how to appreciate all that is being done for us and not just take it for granted.

When someone does something for us, the feeling of gratitude needs to flow from within. It cannot be just a layer pasted on the face and uttered in words.

Sadhguru Says

The Message Within

Some time ago, I was offered the privilege of membership in a WhatsApp group of spiritual seekers. The original purpose of the group was to read and understand an important religious scripture and seek to understand the real message concealed within the words. Since I wish for this Blog to remain largely non-denominational, I shall avoid mention of references which could be deemed sensitive.

I have already mentioned elsewhere the intelligence which pervades everywhere and is embedded within each of us as the core of our being. It is this intelligence which guides us from within and this is the intelligence which inspires special people with extraordinary knowledge. This extraordinary knowledge covers the entire spectrum of human endeavour - art, music, literature, science, mathematics, spirituality... whatever else we can think of or which we will discover in the future.

The upanishads call this vast reservoir of knowledge the akashic record, is given other names in other languages. The knowledge available therein is rich with meaning and complexity beyond the comprehension of human minds. What the inspired individuals can capture from that vast repository and then share with the world in human language is necessarily limited by human conceptual and linguistic capacity. Yet the wonderful scriptures that have been handed down to us have revealed layers of meaning embedded within, which unfold as the student gains understanding and is able to peer deeper into the hidden meanings of the words and sentences.

Pleasure or Joy?

Sadhguru's quotes are sometimes quite enigmatic. At other times, they can be quite straightforward. The quote I chose for today is quite simple.

Pleasure is the sensation that comes from stimulating your senses. To experience pleasure, one only needs to stimulate the senses. But sensory stimulation is very superficial. While it can become addictive, it cannot fulfill a deeper longing within.

Joy is generated from within you and can flow outwards to fill your entire being. Joy encompasses the mind and emotions as well and not just the physical body. Joy fulfills like pleasure cannot.

If you do not feel joy, then you are only satisfying your senses. The pleasure obtained from stimulating the senses can be satisfying for a while but after that, the pleasure will start to feel empty. That is what leads pleasure addicts to keep seeking higher doses of stimulation or other avenues of pleasure. It can become a self destructive spiral.

In our life, we want to become joyful.

Sadhguru Says