Prabhaker

Life has no purpose, it is a play. Spiritual progress can happen only in human body, not in a bodiless state.

Illusion of body-mind is associated with ego. Ego is a survival measure. If a child is born without the ego, he will die. He cannot survive, it is impossible, because if he feels hunger he will not feel: I am hungry. He will feel there is hunger, but not related to him. The moment hunger is felt, the child feels: I am hungry, he starts crying and making efforts to be fed. The child grows through the growth of his ego. Ego is part of natural growth. But that doesn't mean that you have to remain with it forever.

Your consciousness is burdened so much with anxieties, worries, anguish, that you take a drink and feel good because your consciousness goes to sleep. Perhaps for a few moments you can drown it in alcohol, but the next morning it will come back, worse than it was before. Then you call it a hangover. You suffer the hangover; still again you are going to drink, knowing perfectly well that the hangover is coming. You are drinking because you are in search of meditation. The desire to forget oneself is desire of the meditator too. You have taken up drinking by mistake. Drink meditation, if this new taste suits you , the old one will become tasteless. Until you have begun to like the new taste, it is foolish to drop the old one.

@Loreena Please, please never ever bring 'nuclear apocalypse' in you dreams !

Seeking is needed, but then comes a point when seeking has to be dropped. The boat is needed to cross the river but then comes a moment when you have to get out of the boat and forget all about it and leave it behind. Effort is needed, without effort nothing is possible. And also only with effort, nothing is possible. It will take a long time... when awareness becomes natural and no effort is needed. Unless this point comes where no effort is needed, awareness has not been attained yet. When you can forget about all efforts and simply be aware, then only have you achieved it.

What else you can do ? If 'giving explanations' is making you more peaceful , then carry on, enjoy it !

@Annetta Remain aloof. You simply see like a mirror, an empty mirror. Whosoever passes by, the mirror reflects. This is witnessing. And the mirror never chooses, because the mirror is not a photographic plate. The photographic plate immediately chooses. It gets caught, trapped. The mirror remains clean: you have passed -- the mirror is again clean, empty. In fact, when you were passing, then too there was only reflection, but the mirror was not having any content in it. It was only a shadow, a shadow passing by. When you don't choose, things are as they are. That is suchness -- 'Witnessing'.

Do you think your explanations will satisfy him, and he will start ignoring you ?

What's wrong with you? why can't you face criticism, and remain aloof ? What's the need of giving explanations ?

@Annetta Ego is very sensitive and very fragile, and is very afraid of criticism. The ego depends on others’ opinions. It has no reality of its own. It is not a real entity, it is not substantial — it is just a collection of others’ opinions. There is a limit. Beyond that nobody likes to be criticized. But the other side of the story is that everybody likes to criticize others; that gives you a good feeling. If others are bad, vicariously it helps you to feel good. If everybody is a cheat, a hypocrite, dishonest, cunning, it gives you a good feeling: you are not that bad, you are not that dishonest. The comparison relaxes you. It helps you to remain dishonest, because people are more dishonest than you are. In this dishonest world how can you survive? You have to play the game. Everybody likes to criticize, and not only to criticize — everybody likes to magnify others’ faults. You try to make others’ faults as big as possible because then, in comparison, your faults are negligible. Ego does not want to be criticized and wants to criticize everybody. Become aware of the strategy of the ego, how it nourishes itself, how it protects itself. Unless you become absolutely aware of all the cunning devices of the ego, you will never be able to get rid of it. Learn the art of acting of your own accord. Don’t be worried about criticisms and don’t be interested in praises. If you are interested in being praised by others, then you cannot be unconcerned about criticism. Remain aloof.

From your very childhood you have been taught to wear masks, beautiful masks. There is no need to have a beautiful face, just a beautiful mask will do. Your whole training is to hide your original face, to wear masks - masks which are appealing to people,masks which are appreciated by people. A man who is ready to drop all masks, all pretensions, all hypocrisies, and show to the world what he, in reality, is. He can be condemned, dishonored, or crucified.

An idiot can start pursuing enlightenment. Pursuing enlightenment doesn't makes anybody wise. But if he is not deceiving himself, if he is not playing game with himself, his intelligence will grow. Jesus says: Only those who are like children will be capable of entering into the kingdom of God. Child-likeness is not childishness. Childishness is foolishness, stupidity: idiotic it is. Child-likeness is totally different: it is a flowering of innocence.

One out a million, who start a spiritual journey reach full enlightenment, it is very rare phenomenon. Your body is going to die whether you are enlightened or not. When you grow spiritually you will find death is an illusion. Death after enlightenment is a blessing. Most of the enlightened people in the world have died almost immediately after enlightenment - the shock is too much. The body may not be able to take it, unless the body is specially prepared to take it. The phenomenon is not natural; one should say, it is beyond nature. When a phenomenon occurs which is contrary to nature, or which is beyond nature, the entire harmony and adjustment of nature becomes disorderly. A great deal of preparation is needed if one wants to save oneself from such a disorderly state. Various yogasanas and mudras, yoga postures, are very helpful in this respect. In fact all the techniques of Yoga are useful in this direction. So you need an extraordinary body -- an ordinary body won't work. You need your body to be made of steel so that it can withstand an unnatural phenomenon of such great magnitude. Very few people survive enlightenment, and the reason why these people survive is strange: people who have been adventurous, people who have enjoyed taking risks, who have lived like a tightrope walker, whose lives have been on a razor's edge, may survive. The shock will be there, but they are accustomed to smaller shocks. They have never had such a big shock, but smaller shocks have prepared them to accept even this enormous phenomenon. They still continue to breathe; their heart still continues to beat. But still the body suffers in many ways because something has happened that the body cannot understand. No scripture of the world discusses it. The question of discussion does not even arise -- no scripture even mentions it, and it has been happening for centuries. Perhaps they were afraid that if they say it... People are already not interested in enlightenment, and if you tell them that this is going to be the reward -- that you become enlightened and your fuse goes off -- this may prevent even those few who might try. They will say, "What nonsense it is. You work hard to attain enlightenment and what do you get as a reward? -- that you are finished! You are not even going to see yourself enlightened. So what is the point? It is a strange game.

@The Universe Any theoretical knowledge will create more and more hindrances, you can't reach ecstasy without facing sufferings. Be prepared to accept anything that comes in your way without judging.

Silence and mind can't exist together. Silence is serene, tranquil, cool. It is ecstasy without any excitement. You feel contentment , as if you have arrived home. It is much more than that only something can be said about it. If you will become greedy to find such state, you will miss.

Deep dreamless sleep , dream sleep and waking state are natural, only state of meditation is your achievement. I have reached that state many times but I fall back unfortunately.

Indian psychology divides human consciousness into three stages: deep, dreamless sleep -- the deepest; then above it, dream sleep; and above it, on the surface, what we call the waking state. In the morning you get up from your bed; you enter the waking state. In the evening you go to your bed you enter dream sleep. And then deep in the night somewhere, dreams disappear and you fall down into the abyss of dreamless sleep -- that is known as SUSHUPTI. This dreamless sleep is without mind, because there is no thought, no dream, no ripple; everything has ceased, mind has dissolved. You ARE -- without a mind. That's why the insistence -- "without mind AND alert." That's the only difference between samadhi and sushupti -- samadhi, the ultimate peak of ecstasy, and sushupti, the deepest center of dreamless sleep -- only one difference; otherwise, they are one. In sushupti there is no mind; in samadhi also there is no mind. In sushupti you are unconscious; in samadhi you are perfectly conscious. But the quality of consciousness is the same. In one there is darkness, in another there is light. Through meditation one has to achieve a dreamless sleep like state with full alertness.

@egoeimai In India most of the vegetarians are Lacto Vegetarians, they consume milk and milk products to keep their body and mind healthy. Indians believe that almonds are memory enhancers. There are many Ayurvedic medicines which are popular for improving brain and memory functioning. Those who practice celibacy don't take milk products. Many right wingers will prefer to die instead of eating non-vegetarian food.

It may also imply that unhappy people don't become rich. Happy people become more successful.

To transform breakdowns into breakthroughs is the whole function of a master. Find a reputed spiritual teacher.

@Loreena Only a rich person can become spiritual. I am not saying that a poor person cannot become spiritual, but it is very rare, exceptional. A poor person goes on hoping. A poor person has not known what riches are. He is not yet frustrated with it. How can he go beyond riches if he is not frustrated with them? A poor man also sometimes comes , but then he asks for success. His son is not getting employed, His wife is ill, or he is losing money in his business. These are symptoms of a poor man, one who is asking about things of this world. When a rich person comes to spirituality, he has money, he has employment, he has a house, he has health—he has everything that one can have. And suddenly he has come to a realisation that nothing is fulfilling. Then the search for God starts. Yes, sometimes a poor man can also be spiritual, but for that very great intelligence is needed. A rich man, if he is not spiritual, is stupid. A poor man, if he is spiritual, is tremendously intelligent. if a poor man is not spiritual, he has to be forgiven. If a rich man is not spiritual, his sin is unpardonable. A rich society can become spiritual, but only some poor individuals can become spiritual. Spirituality flowered in India , when India was at peak of his civilization. Now it will flower in west.

@Loreena If you are too much unconscious, mentally ill, sometimes more money can bring disasters, threat to your life and security. I have seen it in my family. Only if you are a happy person , money will make you more happy.

When was born in Nepal but after he left his kingdom for a spiritual journey, he lived mainly in India (Bihar state). After enlightenment he was spreading his message in Bihar , he was arguing with Brahmins , do you conceive that a non-vegetarian can do that. You are not familiar with culture of India. I am never said that meat is good or bad for heath. Neither I said a non-vegetarian can't grow into a meditator , I only mentioned that it becomes easier to reach deeper levels of meditation , if you are vegetarian.

When Jesus was crucified , when Krishna and Mohammad were fighting wars and killing others. Were they not awakened ?

Someone won a lottery. His wife became very anxious, since it was far too much money for her poor husband. The lottery was worth one hundred thousand dollars. Even five dollars was a big sum for him, and here he was going to get one hundred thousand in a lump. But luckily the husband was not present in the house when the news arrived; he was in his office where he was a petty clerk. So she rushed to the local church and told the priest, ”My husband has won a lottery worth one hundred thousand dollars. It is too much money for him. Soon he will return from his office, and I am afraid this happy news might kill him. Can you do anything about it?” The priest said, ”Don’t worry, I will come to your house soon.” The priest came. The woman asked him what he was going to do. The priest said, ”I have thought out the whole plan. He will receive his happiness in installments.” When the old man came home, the priest told him, ”You will be glad to know that you have won a lottery worth fifty thousand dollars.” The clerk said, ”If it is true, I will donate twenty five thousand to your church.” Hearing this the priest died of heart failure.