Regarding Enlightenment, Nirvana 2 and 3 - International Prose

Regarding Enlightenment, Nirvana 2 and 3
by sadh Wednesday, Jun 10 2015, 11:35am
international / prose / post

A no nonsense approach to Realisation

It should clearly be stated at the outset that we are all Enlightened beings, as we are born spontaneously Aware. However, superimposed cultural learning or socialisation veils our understanding and creates a type of amnesia of the fact. We are then faced with a paradox if we decide to pursue Enlightenment, how do we achieve or gain what we already have? The problem amounts to the absurdity of attempting to locate something more immediate than the nose on your face. Nonetheless, countless people attempt to solve that impossible paradox by utilising the means – culturally learned behaviours -- which created the amnesia in the first instance, needless to say they fail miserably in the attempt?

Consider various esoteric or mystical schools and their practices, what are they all designed to accomplish? Remembrance, nothing more, yet too often, certain practices designed to enlighten become circular and self-defeating, ‘raising’ the ‘Kundalini’ for example, ‘remember,’ we are already enlightened but have forgotten our identity or who we really are, notwithstanding that Kundalini is a kinetic not dormant force.

Social animals are instinctively forced to embrace the group mind/culture of the tribe, society or herd to which they ‘belong’ in order to function and survive, which would not be a problem if that mind were attuned to nature’s greater cosmic harmony, understand that infinity allows no imperfections as the slightest ‘error’ or fault would have extinguished existence yet we exist as proof of the perfection of continuous cosmic harmony -- you are not an accidental creation, though perversity ensures extinction. A quick appraisal of the current human mental and social condition informs us that things are not socially or mentally right, in fact things are downright destructive and perverse to the extreme so achieving perfection becomes an imperative if we choose to survive.

We are therefore faced with superimposed destructive perversity, which most people begrudgingly and painfully accept, or vainly try to escape, or returning to (remembering) our essential, harmonious nature, while continuing to function in a perverse society. It should be noted at his stage that every social space is ‘mapped’ by culture and if a new sub-cultural social space emerges dominant culture appropriates that space otherwise it may collapse in its present form, something not altogether undesirable these days.

Some enlightened beings choose to opt out of the social but nevertheless physically remain in a mapped socially controlled space, including mystics and the insane, as both threaten the dominant culture if allowed to function freely, simply appreciate the amazing extent to which ‘medicine’ goes to chemically constrain the ‘insane,’ ‘disturbed’ and radical, mystics fall into the latter category and are far too aware to be appreciated or detected as other worldly, therefore as a threat.

Nevertheless, every social space, particularly the culturally created group and individual ‘mind,’ has its inherent problems due to the imperfections of its creators, humans. The astute among you have detected that ‘mind’—as distinct from aware consciousness -- and ‘culture’ have been used here synonymously. The reason is simple, everything you think, including who you imagine yourself to be, has been culturally created/learned, inclusive of the process of thought, which is nothing more than a train of finite cultural symbols and images (language) congesting our view of infinity and veiling REALITY as it is!

A little, the more the better actually, self-confrontation is necessary to proceed, which process the dominant perverse culture abhors, as it starkly reveals the tortuous state of our minds and of course, the destructive culture it reflects, I therefore recommend for those not yet anchored in enlightened bliss to avoid today’s mass media like the plague, as it is the reinforcing agent of cultural perversity.

However, if we decide to strive for clarity and the source of our being then every perversity must be overcome – relax, be assured that all perversities are dissolved in the instant of Real-isation.

Self-confrontation, not projection, avoidance or denial, reveals what? Our real personal and social condition, which is what, need I ask? Misery, in a word, interrupted only briefly with moments of joy, again, simply appreciate the condition of your mind and the culture that produced it for verification of the obvious.

To outwit the deleterious effects of mental/cultural perversity we harness misery and all its relations and transform them into friends by utilising them as instigators and drivers in our (now) quest for Truth/reality; already we have defeated a great enemy, the social forces that view neutral forces as static categories of ‘positive and negative,’ which opposites do not exist in a unified space. We thereby effectively transmute problems into constructive assistants and once we have begun we need not focus on the once ‘sorrowful’ source of achieving that result. I should mention that immediate relief from our numerous self-maintained, culturally imposed burdens is experienced as soon as we take our very first step in the direction of harmony, as the universe responds and delights in our new direction to return to its inherent harmony, peace and indescribable joy.

“What you seek is seeking you.” -- Jalaludin Rumi

Humans are created beings, a very small part of the cosmic whole, as such we are all connected to the principle that created us/everything and are able to trace our origins, via consciousness, back to its source. Consciousness is our most precious inheritance from cosmic creation and what an astounding gift it is.

We are all born with it in pristine form but demands on our survival soon disturb its natural, free-flowing process, this is unavoidable as we are all programmed like other animals to learn from our social environment in order to survive. The need to learn is instinctive as it is in the animal kingdom, however, what we learn as humans is not necessarily advantageous to our personal wellbeing and survival as a species, consider the dominant culture’s attempts to naturalise ‘perpetual war’ for example, and war as we all know, is the most anti-survival activity to engage in, in fact, it is the height of perversity and destruction both to ourselves as a species and to the natural environment, which now threatens to make tenable life on our planet extremely difficult.

Responsibility for our condition at any given time falls squarely on our shoulders regardless of all other considerations and circumstances, it is our responsibility to change our lives not that of some politician, priest or self-styled guru, most of whom have a vested interest in us as a resource if we subscribe to their world view. Faced with the gross and obvious perversities of our time, we have two choices, to go with the cultural socialisation process or to become completely aware of our independence/freedom and realise our full potential. If you are reading this I would hope that you are of the latter group.

However, prior to any external change an inner change must first occur otherwise we fall into a repetitive cycle of perversity, as human history clearly informs us. The reason for that is simple to understand. Without clear perception and awareness no new vision is possible as everything we think and do is a product of the perverse culture that socialises us into its nightmare.

Self-realisation today has become an imperative if we wish to survive and free ourselves from the bondage of imposed perverse patterns of behaviour. So you see I am not describing some fad or new age drivel designed to enslave feeble minds, I am addressing the most fundamental core issue of our existence, ‘freedom from the known,’ to borrow a phrase. The first r/evolution must occur within before anything really new is able to be envisaged, that should now be evident.

We therefore arrive at the threshold of real change or transformation but are not fully equipped to make progress, however, as previously stated nature has provided us with all the necessities for real change or transformation to occur. What we may lack, though technically we lack nothing if our passion is strong enough, is the means by which to facilitate that transformation and the means to which I refer have been utilised successfully since at least the dawn of civilisation. They consist of a number of simple disciplines to assist in our de-conditioning/de-socialisation which lead to what was there prior to unavoidable corruption.

A brief description is warranted.

To realise our true selves we must first eliminate anything that hides or obstructs our view and our ability to see things as they really are; our perceptive ability must be cleansed of all formulated/prescribed ways of seeing which are not seeing at all, they are learned, limited seeing habits; to illustrate I need only refer to the Inuit people that have more than a dozen words for ‘snow’ while we in the west have one – the reason is simple, survival in any harsh, unforgiving environment requires acute sensitivity and knowledge of that environment, ‘snow’ is not snow when you step on it and plunge into a crevice and perish, so the Inuit are able to identify dangerous snow from other snow while we ‘see’ only one snow. And so it is with limited perception or ‘seeing’ ability which is governed by our social and physical environment for good or ill, though we are able to become fully perceptive and aware by mastering a few simple disciplines.

Mind

Throughout this discourse I have referred to the mind as socially created, as it is driven by thought, which is comprised of cultural symbols or language, which is not an entirely accurate statement as the mind is thought. Without thought there is no mind, which does not mean we become gibbering idiots, to the contrary, we become aware or superconscious, as our innate infinite consciousness is then freed of the finite limitations of thought/mind. I cannot prove the assertion that thought is mind on paper; however, anyone could put it to the test by simply ceasing to think, try it and you will soon discover that the mind/thought is out of control, try as you might thought constantly intrudes, as it’s habitual and habits are hard to break we are told -- which is untrue but more on that later.

With a little persistent practice of quieting the mind, which Buddhist monks do as a matter of course, thought finally ceases and we are left with the indescribable wonder of our innate, expansive, all-embracing, creative consciousness, which is free to do what it was designed to do, to see and appreciate things as they really are and to arrive at decisions based on REALITY, not on superimposed cultural illusions and deceptions.

It becomes clear that the majority of people are not only slaves to thought/culture and all the associated emotional fears and pathologies inherent in that unfortunate situation, they are also clearly too frightened and/or ignorant to pursue freedom or liberation – for the slave that is mentally shackled and unaware that he has the key to his chains in his hand, slavery or compliance to the status quo seems the only alternative so the slave vainly attempts to make the best of it while living in misery, fear and confinement. The result of this unnecessary tragedy is the current appalling condition of the world; entire populations are being led by the nose to their destruction and evermore social containment/oppression without resistance.

I hope it is now clear why I initially stated that the only sure path to freedom r/evolution is personal liberation/transformation, as no really new social vision, effective strategy or lasting change could occur without it. Notwithstanding all the while that the key to the jail cell door, as the mystic poet Rumi put it, is in the hand of the prisoner.

“One of the marvels of this world
is the sight of a soul sitting in prison
with the key in its hand.” -- Jalaludin Rumi

The vast majority are therefore party to their own enslavement and are entirely responsible for their own misery, as everyone feels, due to our cosmic inheritance, the tug of truth constantly alerting them to the fact that something is terribly wrong. And be assured that nagging feeling will never cease until the situation is remedied, regardless of how many cultural distractions, drugs, avoidances and titillations you pursue or are swamped with by culture. So for those heroic people ready to take responsibility for their lives and face the most terrifying challenges, as your worst fears are contained in your own mind, I continue.

Prior to clear unfettered perception, thought must cease, as thought is inherently biased and comprised of all our learned conceptions and myriad other perversities. The mind is also laden with emotionally charged images which induce learned reflexive responses, particularly fear; if I say “Muslim” today you could actually measure the response on people with a galvanometer, such is the power of the cultural mass media in corrupting our perceptions, awareness and responses.

The Kiss We Crave

There is a certain kiss we crave
with our entire being,
the touch of spirit on body.

The sea begs the pearl
to open its shell.

And the lily, how passionately
it yearns for some wild darling.

At night, I open the window
and ask the moon to come
and press its face against mine --
Breathe into me.

Close the language-door
and open the love-window.

The moon does not enter by the door,
only by the window.

Jalaludin Rumi

Rather than elaborate further on the cause of slavery, ignorance and delusion I would focus on the solution, as the previous point has been made. However, a few cogent warnings are necessary.

Ochre-robed ‘Gurus’

A trip to India, the home of hypocritical, debauched, ‘K-Mart’ gurus, provides incontrovertible proof of the multi-million dollar, cult of personality worship that the ‘guru industry’ is today.

Given that most popular gurus prey on the feeble minded and gullible and exploit them sexually and financially, they are such a scourge today that exposure becomes a necessity. I would refer to the largely uncorrupted Sanskrit Indian tradition itself to expose them.

Traditionally, ochre coloured robes or dress denotes celibacy and the renunciation of the world, particularly wealth or the accruement of money, which as everyone knows is the root of evil. However, in the most blatant manifestation of hypocrisy, most if not all popular gurus are shameless money grubbers, narcissists and sexual predators; I cite Swami Muktananda, Swami Satyananda and Sai Baba, as already exposed sordid examples; ample information on these characters is available in the public domain and I need only refer to a few typical examples here. Sai Baba, who in reality was a cheap (video-exposed) trickster and homosexual predatory paedophile, was indirectly responsible for having a number of boys he sexually abused murdered by his organisation to save his reputation and millions in assets.

Lesser gurus, though equally as fraudulent and sordid, such as Swami Gitananda of Pondicherry and numerous other ochre-robed, non-celibate hypocrites, though not as materially ‘successful’ and notorious as the above examples, nevertheless, exhibit the exact same gross personality flaws and pathologies, which the Indian tradition clearly states are not to be found in genuine teachers.

I recall one of many instances of Gitananda’s pathological lying (another name for ‘God’ is Truth, it should be remembered) when an elderly, wandering Indian sadhu visited his ashram in Pondicherry, Gitananda claimed the visiting sadhu, attended by his helper, was 120 years of age and reached this level of longevity through yoga practice, though he was clearly infirm and required constant attendance and assistance. Some of Gitananda’s pupils were dubious of the claim and simply inquired directly from the man himself and his assistant what age he was, without hesitation or pretence the answer was 74! So much for truth and integrity; furthermore, only a few left his ashram as a result, leaving of course the weaker minded to pursue ‘realisation’ with this obvious barrel of shit. Gitananda never stopped lying as he was clearly victim to numerous severe pathological problems. He was disgraced by the local Indian community when one of his American female students, now head of the ashram, gave birth to his child, though he never ceased wearing his ochre robes of celibacy and renunciation!

Today, however, the situation in India is far worse with numerous fraudulent mass media Baba’s gaining huge popularity and wealth via television. So it is hoped that seeking outside oneself is abandoned as no-one is able to give you what you already possess, notwithstanding the very real chances that your life will be ruined by these exploitative and debauched frauds. It should also be mentioned that anyone that claims ‘authority’ or ‘lineage’ from any of the above self-serving clowns and frauds, is either deluded or worse, party to the same frauds, hypocrisies and exploitative self-serving practices.

It should be remembered that the two great historical saviours of the world, Gautama Buddha and Jesus Christ both detested money, temporal power, hypocrisy and corruption.

“Be still and know that I am God,” is the simple lesson of the past and present that ensures success.

Silence

in perfect silence
there is a thunder
so loud
that it muffles the loudest
worldly din
it signals a storm
that rains love
unceasingly

seek the eye of that storm

To be continued …

Jungle Drum on Disc/Stick