Mirror-man

I looked for me in the vast blue sky, behind the changing, swirling clouds.
I hunted for myself in the depths of the great ocean, in the inky blackness of the deepest waters.
I tried to spot my face in the eyes of another, reflected in dark brown pools of feeling.
I listened to hear my voice in the sound of the rain.
I read all the books in all the libraries
to try and find an accurate description of me.
At last, I looked into my own mind.
Beyond my mind I found my heart.
I looked deeper.
Beyond my heart I found my soul.
There I came face to face with myself in a mirror -
Who was this man with my face, my nose, my jaw, my eyes?
Did I see evil or did I see good in that visage?
Did he smile at me kindly or mockingly?
Was I watching him or was he watching me?
Was I the artist or the image, the canvas or the paint?
Was I this face or the light that made it visible or the watcher who observed?
Suddenly I knew:
this was all a dream
And the Dreamer had no face
To call His own.

Stopping Time

Nine months of 2009 are almost over...where did they go?
We all have the experience that the days, months, years rush by in a blur of activity.
 In the mad helter-skelter of 21st century urban existence, cellphones ringing, emails pinging, calendars screaming, to-do lists accusing, car rides,plane rides, bills and collection agencies......it all seems like a never-ending treadmill that eats up the days.
We wake up in the morning and hurtle into the day...rushing around physically and mentally all day...before we know it the day is over, we are exhausted and go to bed.
Thus we dissipate our most precious resource...the limited moments of our human existence. We lose our days.
What happened to living? To experiencing the joy of a cup of tea, a walk in the park, a sunset that we participate fully in, the laugh of a little child, looking a friend in the eye and sharing a soul-smile?
Awareness is the key.Throughout my day,in all my activities , I have the opportunity to stop time.
One moment , experienced with total awareness, can hold eternity.
Walking down the street, riding in a car, waiting in line...all opportunities to experience everything around me with my gut, rather than through the blurred filter of a ticker-tape mind.
All I do each day is shift into awareness as often as I can.
 I move away from the mind and into the solar plexus to experience my body, my breath and all around me directly and totally.
Time disappears...everyday reality is magical and awesome in its glory!
Every moment of such magic is a moment fully lived.
All I practice is increasing the moments of alert awareness ...so that less of my life is wasted in unconsciousness.
Infinity and eternity - right here and right now!

Freedom Express

Ride the fast train to freedom.
Being born is your ticket..awareness is the only price.
Trust the life-train,,,its purpose, its speed, its control,its enigmatic wisdom.
Lay your burdens down...drop the heavy sack of ego.
No point carrying it on your head when the train can bear you and all your burdens effortlessly.
Sit back in your seat and enjoy the ride....its over in a flash!
Listen to the heartbeat rythm of the One true sound....ever in the background as you travel.
Freedom is letting go all cares and trusting the driver unconditionally.
Total surrender...and the dawning of the wonder of it all.
Bliss is knowing deep down that you are the train and the driver and the rails.
Wooooooeeeee! Whattaa ride!

The Temple

The Someshwara Temple in Ulsoor, Bangalore is 1500 years old, they say.
A software professional and his wife perform a puja, while their son plays videogames on his dad's cellphone.Traditions run deep in India...and it abounds with places of worship.Temples, mosques, churches, shrines are everywhere.

My temple is my body, the cupola my head, my legs the pillars, the inner shrine - the Heart in my chest.
Once I find this Heart, this entire Universe is my temple: the vast dome of the sky, the firm earth below my feet, the worshipping trees dancing in the wind, the sacred rain and sunshine....who needs any temples of stone?
In the freedom of formless Being, infinity and eternity are contained.
Once I know this, I see that all  forms are made of this Being.
Magic is everywhere.

Its All in the Eye

" Only let thine eye be single and all the world will be radiant with Light" said Jesus
"Truth can only be seen with the eye of the heart" said Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
What you see depends on the eye that you see with.
What you experience depends on the state of being you choose to experience from.
When you find the Centre deep in your being, you will experience the awe and the wonder of everything around you.
And know, beyond all doubt, that there is only ONE underlying everything...mountains and clouds and trees and birds and oceans and people and butterflies...all expressions of the same ONE, that creates this incredible Universe out of itself, manifesting through the energies of Love and Joy and Light.
The Absolute Formless Ground of Being , the Tao, is the canvas and the paint and the artist and the light that reveals the painting.
This is the ultimate reality.
As long as you identify with a limited self, you will not see this.
The moment you quit being the wave and become the ocean, you will enjoy the vastness of ocean and the uniqueness of every individual wave-form - simultaneously.
You will be the ONE and the many at the same time, in an ecstatic dance of Being-Consciousness-Bliss.
Why settle for less?

Fair Trade

Trade your speech for silence, your cleverness for wisdom, your pride for humility, your brilliance for simplicity.
Give up your learning and your knowledge: they are just useless clutter preventing you from experiencing openness and receptivity.
Give up all concepts and pre-conceived notions: be blank and empty.
Give up your claims to virtue and greatness and sainthood: they are just chains that bind you.
Before anything else, just BE.
In the daily humdrum, take that pause, stop to breathe, to feel, to see..... once you can do this, you inherit eternity.
Once you open your eyes, the passing old man, the dog on the sidewalk, the crow cawing on the neem tree, the wind in your hair...all become gurus who help you understand what its really all about!
There is only ONE. You are it.
 So is everyone and everything else.
From the smallest atom to the greatest galaxy, everything is made of Love and Light.

Awakening from the Dream

When we dream, all that happens in the dream seems totally realistic...we feel and experience it as if it was actually happening.
 When we awaken, we realise it was a dream.
When we watch a movie with total absorption, we experience all that happens in the movie as real, even though we know its just moving images of actors on a screen.
Our so-called everyday reality is equally a dream, a movie...only, it's longer and seems to have continuity over time.
Once we awaken to our true nature, we see that all that we thought of as reality is a highly sophisticated holographic projection created by our own minds.
Awakening from all the dreams is understanding that its all a giant multi-dimensional movie..created by the stored information in our brains that acts like a strip of film, lit up by the reflected Light of the Self, projected through the lens of the senses on the screen of Space-Time.
Once I am so awakened, I see the images as images, not reality...and experience, beyond all shadow of doubt, the ONE energy that is the source and the substance of everything.
What does this actually mean?
 My life continues as normal, I go through my everyday motions, I eat and walk and touch and see and hear and act...without getting sucked into identifying with all that I experience.
 And, with a thrilling ecstasy coursing through every fibre of my being, I become the miraculous wonder of the ONE playing at being the many.
I let go of the outer and focus on the inner. I chose the magic rather than the illusion.
No more "I" ", "experience" or " objects of experience"...just the endless play of Light and shade weaving its mystery through it all.!
Why do this?
 Because it is exquisite perfection- eternal, infinite and awesome in its magnificence.
And losing myself in this perfection is bliss beyond all description, embedded in an ocean of endless love and peace.
What better way to live can there possibly be?

The Life-Death continuum

" People are born many times , so they die many times.
Life and death continue endlessly.
If you realise the true meaning of the unborn,
You will transcend both gladness and grief "
Old Zen saying.

Can Life and Death be separate?
Everyday, millions of cells in our bodies die and are replaced by new cells.
We are constantly dying and being reborn...physically, mentally, emotionally.
From the moment of birth, we are moving towards death...an inevitable process.
All Nature is a cycle of Life and Death and Rebirth...matter and energy changing form in an endless dance.
The real question is " Who or what is born and who or what dies?"
Once I find who I really am, neither birth nor death is real....both are just part of the endless movie projected by the ONE.
I am that One. You are that One. Mountain and stone and ant and sea and galaxy and atom...all ONE.
That is all there is - eternal, blissful and tranquil.
When I clear my illusions, I dissolve into that ONE.
Nothing more to say!

Crucifixion and Resurrection

Easter is here...spring begins the new life. The trees wear brilliant new green leaves and multitudes of blossoms...as dormant Nature awakens again .
On Good Friday, we remember and share in the crucifixion of Christ. He who forgave even those who crucified him. And, on Easter Sunday, we celebrate His resurrection...awakening again into Life eternal.
What does this mean for us regular human beings? What is the secret meaning of this great re-birth?
It reminds us that every human being has a choice: to stay lost in the illusion of this brief human existence or to "die"...and so awaken to one's true blissful and divine Being.
The crucifixion of the ego-mind complex...which is an illusion anyway...leads to the resurrection of the eternal Self, Brahman, Sat-chit-ananda...the ONE true and eternal spirit that is the source and the substance of all things.
The Self always was , always is and always will be...shining like the sun in the cave of the Heart in every human being. The illusion of the ego-mind complex , like the monsoon clouds, hides this Sun.
Once we turn the attention inwards, seek the source, the illusion disappears...this is the crucifixion, painful only because of our attachment to our treasured illusion.
When we let go , the eternal Sun of the Self shines forth in its true glory.
Happy Easter! :)

Dropping my story

Everyone has a story: a motley collection of memories, fantasies, inventions that become "true" over time.My story is totally unreal and non-existent...I keep it alive because I have made it my identity.This is me...this is my life!
I nurture my story with great care. Endlessly I repeat the incidents, the memories, the people, the actions,the achievements, the happenings...partly based on the past that actually was, partly embellished by me with suitable imagination to look and sound good in the telling. After a while, even the embellishments become real to me...repetition gives them reality of sorts.
So what's wrong with my building a story and identifying with it? After all, it gives me character, personality, makes me who I am...gives me something to talk about at the party or the cafe...jokes and funny happenings and adventures and excitement that I can impress my listeners ( and myself) with. The older I get, the more I cling to my story...old friends shudder when I repeat that incident in the bar in Germany for the umpteenth time.
Finally, battered by Life's roller-coaster, I realise that my story is a willow-the-wisp, a mirage. And this mirage is keeping me from truly living...fresh and new and aware in each new moment of each new day.
Yet, even after I discover this tremendous truth...how hard it is to drop my story! Because this means - " I' must DIE!
I must cut off my head, destroy my carefully crafted and nurtured self-image, say goodbye to Mickey forever!
It takes a lot of practice..and self-awareness...to clearly see that killing good old Mickey is the ONLY real choice I can make...if I truly want to BE. This story I have clung to all my life is choking me, strangling me, encasing me in a shell of armour that cuts me off from magic, from Life.
When I manage to escape from this shell, if only for a few moments, I taste the vastness, the bliss, the peace of infinity and the pulsing energy of Love that pervades everything around me.
 I experience being tree and mountain and ocean, the great expanding cosmos, the whirling atom and the blossoming flower.
Mr Drop tastes being Mr. Ocean...who wants to be drop anymore?
Goodbye, story...off with his head!
Enough is more than enough.

Wave or Ocean?

At the edge of a vast ocean,the waves make endless love to the land.
Each wave begins as a tiny swell, slowly rising higher and higher, finally curling in upon itself before crashing back down into the ocean it arose from, flattening up and spreading over the beach in a flurry of foam before retreating to mother ocean.
 And so again and again...in timeless rhythm, primordial perfection.
My life is a wave...being born, growing,reaching a peak, finally returning through death back into the vast ocean I was born from.
At any point in time-space, is the wave ever separate from the ocean?
Does the wave have a unique, individual existence apart from the ocean? Or is it a brief expression of the ocean, creating a temporary illusion of individuality?
And, if my life-story is one wave, and yours is another, are we not the same at core, born from, formed of and returning to the same ocean?
Wait a minute! Who am I? Wave....or ocean?
Who would I rather be?

The Zombie

There are two states any human being can be in: awakened human or zombie.
We are born in the first state. By the time we are two years old, the second state begins to creep over us. Before we know it, we are trapped in the state of the zombie.
A zombie is a dead person who walks and talks and moves.
As long as we are trapped by the ego-mind complex, this is how we all are...dead people, somehow stumbling through life, seeming to walk and talk and act, but not truly experiencing real life....except for some brief, rare moments when ..through shock or intensity..we briefly escape our zombie shell.
We all know at least a few such moments : Aha! moments filled with awe and wonder and totality and raw, magical Being.
I've been a zombie for close to 50 years ...apart from a few magical moments of freedom. So I understand very well how dangerous and all-pervading this state can be.
Do you find life depressing, difficult, boring, painful? Do you wish you were dead sometimes? Do you make your way by habit through day after boring day? Do you ensure your mind is constantly numbed by words or talk or sound or Television or crowds? Are you mostly dwelling on the past or worrying/fantasising about the future? Do you go through your whole day without ever stopping to truly see or feel or experience anything?
These are some of the symptoms of being a zombie.
The greatest tragedy is the loss of your most precious treasure: your humanity and the priceless moments of your human life.
There is only one way to break the iron shell of the zombie state: to free yourself from the tyranny of your ego-mind complex.
Which is a bit like cutting off your head.
All it takes is tearing up your story, ending your movie, shifting your attention from head to heart or solar-plexus.
Being here and now...experiencing the world directly, not through the filter of the mind.
Once you can do this all the time, you have escaped from the zombie state.
You are awake at last...aware, alive, free!
Once you can be this, all you experience is magic!

Eternal Sunrise

The sun never rises or sets...just an illusion caused by the rotation of the earth.
The Sun of Clear Mind shines eternally...it was inside me before I was born and will be after I die.
Only the clouds of false knowledge and conceptual thought obscure it...like thick dark monsoon clouds, but with even less substance.
When I turn my perception to the inner background, all the clouds disappear, revealing the shining perfection that always is.
This is my true home, my place of Being, my Buddha-nature.
This is real...all else is cloudy illusion.
Once I know this , there is nothing left to know, nowhere to go.
Just perfect, loving radiance that flowers so joyously....how did I ever let myself forget this?
That is the true mystery.

Snake-skin

The snake sheds its skin naturally...when the time is ripe.
My ego-skin drops naturally...when my time is ripe.
When my eyes are awakened to the emptiness of all form.
When I experience...totally...the underlying One reality of everything.
When I find that all that I ever sought is right here in me.
When all hunger, need, desire melts and disappears like dew before rising sun.
When the peace and love and joy in the Heart expands and swallows the universe.
When the drop finally lets go of all fear and clinging and falls willingly back into the ocean.
No more "I".
Then...just rise and fall with the waves.
What else is there to do?

Heart-talk

Listen, my friend, this is not difficult to understand.
All of us are born, live, feel joy or pain, grow old and die.
From nothing, we emerge, play our brief roles and return to nothing.This is the fact of our lives.
Life without meaning is not life..it is just an endless, fearful struggle.
To find true meaning, you must turn within ...seek the answer to
" Who am I? " and " What's it all about?"
Seeking with all your being, you find your true Self..and all the questions dissolve forever.
Time is a mental construct : the only reality is the Now.
The greatest gifts lie in the heart and the belly, not the head.
Surrender is the source of peace. Stillness is divine.
Once the inner eye is opened, your blindness drops from your eyes...and all that you see is sacred.
Then you truly live!.
Awake, alert, aware, joyous, one with all there is.
And you finally understand : there is only Love.

Mirror Mind

The mind that is still is your original mirror-mind.
Free of all clinging, all conceptual thought...this is the ground of Being, the gateway to the unknowable.
Whatever comes before it, the mirror reflects without judgement..when nothing is before it, it reflects nothing.
No image persists.
Dropping conceptual thought stills the mind.
The still mind returns to its original mirror-like perfection.
Until there is no reflector or reflection or object of reflection..even the mirror dissolves in the perfect Void.
Mirror-mind is Blue Sky Mind...the vastness of space that is ever=present, ever empty. Clouds, like thoughts and emotions, come and go..Blue Sky remains unchanged.
Be still.
Clean your mirror. Be the Blue Sky.
Inherit the Void and be free.

Money

Money dominates and controls most of our lives. Wealth is the greatest goal…and those who build obscenely enormous hoards of personal wealth are the new heroes, the new Gods.
Life is an endless repetition of paying bills, loans and taxes and buying objects and services that we feel we cannot do without.
Over 70% of our waking lives is spent in earning, managing and handling money.
The remaining 30% is spent in spending or worrying about money.
Thus, we squander our most precious possession…the days/hours/minutes of our lives …on the frantic pursuit of money. Only a very small percentage of individuals is actually able to pursue careers that they truly passionately enjoy and believe in as a means to earn money. The vast majority are forced to compromise and do whatever it takes, regardless of their personal interests.
Schools and colleges are factories to create workers who will docilely use the best years of their lives to earn money. Children are educated with the goal of getting the best-paying job. They emerge from the education system to spend the next 40 -50 years of their lives on the treadmill of earning money….by fair means or foul.
It's good to remember a few things about money:
You can’t eat money.
You can’t take it with you when you die.
You can’t buy peace of mind or love or happiness or fulfilment with money.
You can’t replace the precious time of your life that you spent chasing money.
Earn money – honestly and doing what you believe in. Earn enough to live decently and comfortably. But don’t let the blind pursuit of money ruin your life.
 Give enough time for your soul’s pursuits as well…for fun, for love,for family, for creativity, for fellowship and sharing.
When you are facing death, will you suddenly regret the precious moments, hours, days, years that you lost chasing money ?
You were born to discover greater treasures. Don’t let money block you in your true journey. Every moment of your life is a precious gift…and carries within it the secret of infinity, eternity and bliss beyond all measure.
Re-discover your treasure. Here and NOW!

Teach Your Children

Teach your children to be whole and centred and confident.
Teach them by example, by sharing, by listening, by being.
Help them discover the magic in their own hearts…and in Nature.
Let them be curious, questioning, laughing, exploring, wonder-struck.
Help them build their character and their inner strength, their courage and indomitable persistence in the teeth of opposition, their certainty in their own ability and inner truth.
Be protective and nurturing, but also let them make their own mistakes and learn in their own way, just as you did.
Teach them, by your being and by your example, that the greatest treasures they possess are the moments of their lives. That money or fame or power are not the real goal …that the state of Being is what counts the most.
Every moment lived in awareness is magical …every moment lived unconsciously is a tragic waste. Let your children truly see!
Let them discover that they are not “mere” human beings but deathless spirits, divine and radiant, one with all creation, eternally.
Let them marvel at the incredible love and joy that pervades everyday reality, the pure perfection of the invisible that is the source and substance of the visible.
Let them feel and experience the web of oneness that is this universe. Let them experience the joy of creativity and revel in the richness of the soul.
Let them grow into beings of Light and compassion and grace.
Let them lift up their heads and be free.

Happy New Year

Today is the first day of the New Year.. AD 2009. Another mark on a calendar that tries to structure time . The calendar, like the clock, is a useful tool…creating a virtual time-system that we all choose to agree upon . It helps with basic existence … to set appointments, make plans, create schedules.
But is it real? Reality is timeless, the present moment is eternity. It's all there is.
Use the tool…but don’t let it change your reality.
 Be aware and present, awake in the timeless Now.
 Because this is your greatest treasure, your most precious possession…the moments of your life.
May you stay ever connected in your heart with the truth of your own Being. Thus connected, may you escape the false filter of your ego-mind complex and directly perceive the magic all around you …with heart and gut and spirit.
May you feel the awe and the mystery and the wonder of Life, its many splendours.
May you find infinity in every breath, eternity in every second, awaken once again to the incredible, magical perfection that underlies it all.
May you truly LIVE, bliss singing in your blood, peace echoing with every heart-beat, love shining radiantly in every moment of your fantastic journey.
May the battle become the dance this year!
It’s time - be who you really are: perfect, divine, lighting up your world and all the Universe.
Shine on you crazy diamond!
I wish you a happy New Year.