What is liberation?. We speak about it all the time. I want to break away from it all. I want to be free as a bird. No worries, no issues, just plain simple existence. Now ask yourself , is this possible or is it only for great people?. We all know that it is possible. But we refuse to believe that it is possible for ordinary mortals likes us. When we go to a satsang or listen to something spiritual or read something that strikes a chord within us , we feel that there is an inherent peace which is trying to come through. But very soon we are back to our life, again lost in thought , not knowing that we are miserable , not knowing that it is solvable until we hit something liberating again. So this moving back and forth between ordinary life and the taste of freedom is what defines us.
I once heard of a simple incident that was striking and so very familiar. A person is struck in a traffic light. He could not get through the green signal. Now he was the last person who could not cross the green. Now he knows he has to wait a long time before he sees green again since there are lot of cross roads. Now he feels lot of anger, frustration and even sadness. Now he asks himself , who is to blame?. Is it because of the fellow drivers?. Or is it because of the city planners?. Who is responsible for my anger and frustration. I am so tense and desperate that i am clutching the steering wheel till my hands are white. In that moment he just lets it go. The clinging to these emotions and every thing . He just lets it go. Now there is ease , reduced stress. The clinging like a thing you are trying to hold on to a thing which is moving. If you let it go , it just flows downstream. When it vanishes you see peace. Now he is liberated. This is liberation in a small way. A taste of enlightenment if you want. A simple thing to do and yet so profound. There is considerably less amount of noise in your mind.
This is the same thing that happens when you meet with a spiritual guru or an article or meditation or some such experience. You are allowing yourself to let it go. The waves of your mind. The strong clinging and everything. This is because the master doesn't allow you to cling. He makes fun of you, he nullifies your problems, he doesn't listen to your pesky complaints. If you trust and follow him, in a while you also understand what he says is true, what he is saying comes from a spiritual experience and is good only. When he looks back and have followed what great sages have said , you would understand liberation is not something so difficult. You just carry forward the story of the traffic signal to almost all situations. A little liberation is possible means complete liberation is also not difficult. There would be moments in your life where something fell away, some tension , some preoccupation some clinging. You are actually liberated in a small way there. In meditation you would get it most of the time. So absorb that experience. Understand that it is not an inconceivable state.
This is the faith you should have in your ability. If i can see a little liberation , i have seen the feeling of peace in that situation. When i experience it then, why not all the time. At least most of the time. It is the same me who experienced this little moment of peace. So it is not something impossible for me. So it is possible for me to get liberation.
Here is the key to most of our problems. When you see a problem in front of you. Look away from the problem and turn your attention towards you immediately. Understand completely how you are reacting to it. You would understand that the problem is not at all with the external world just as in the case of a traffic signal. The tension, the stress , the frustration everything are arising in you and you are believing that they are true. You strongly associate the root cause of the problem in all other sources except you. Just think of this . Given the same situation , would a calm spiritual person respond the same way as you do ?. If it is possible for that person to respond in a nice way, why not you do the same way. If you can't do it the same way, can you say that the problem lies with the outside world only?.
Here in lies the spiritual path's uniqueness in solving problems. Each of us, have aggravated our own sufferings by improperly understanding life. But we have never looked at ourselves to be the cause of it, since we never invested time in atma jyana. What are my own contributions to the problems i face?Some people may say, it is possible that i may have contributed to the problem, but what about others and my environment?. If their contribution is more to the issues i face, what should i do?.
This is where your positivity can help you. Forgiveness is a great trait. Contentment is another great trait. Practice them both in your meditation. Remember one more thing . If you too respond and react in such a way so that you hurt yourselves, you are no different. Hurt is bad whether it is you or others. There is no space for that in spiritual life.
If you look at your experience you would see two conflicting things. One is the pure now that is happening right here in front of you. The other is the mind, which has everything except the now!!!. So you are essentially experiencing the now that is happening with a mind which is not in the now. So we are looking at the mind for happiness which it says is not in the now but is somewhere else. This is why it says stories. This is why it reacts to the now. If you teach it to be in the moment , appreciating everything as it appears, then it can see the little liberation as in the traffic signal. As incidents happen , which disturb or affect, let it go by the stream. Liberation is not a state , it is a verb and it is a release in each moment.
I once heard of a simple incident that was striking and so very familiar. A person is struck in a traffic light. He could not get through the green signal. Now he was the last person who could not cross the green. Now he knows he has to wait a long time before he sees green again since there are lot of cross roads. Now he feels lot of anger, frustration and even sadness. Now he asks himself , who is to blame?. Is it because of the fellow drivers?. Or is it because of the city planners?. Who is responsible for my anger and frustration. I am so tense and desperate that i am clutching the steering wheel till my hands are white. In that moment he just lets it go. The clinging to these emotions and every thing . He just lets it go. Now there is ease , reduced stress. The clinging like a thing you are trying to hold on to a thing which is moving. If you let it go , it just flows downstream. When it vanishes you see peace. Now he is liberated. This is liberation in a small way. A taste of enlightenment if you want. A simple thing to do and yet so profound. There is considerably less amount of noise in your mind.
This is the same thing that happens when you meet with a spiritual guru or an article or meditation or some such experience. You are allowing yourself to let it go. The waves of your mind. The strong clinging and everything. This is because the master doesn't allow you to cling. He makes fun of you, he nullifies your problems, he doesn't listen to your pesky complaints. If you trust and follow him, in a while you also understand what he says is true, what he is saying comes from a spiritual experience and is good only. When he looks back and have followed what great sages have said , you would understand liberation is not something so difficult. You just carry forward the story of the traffic signal to almost all situations. A little liberation is possible means complete liberation is also not difficult. There would be moments in your life where something fell away, some tension , some preoccupation some clinging. You are actually liberated in a small way there. In meditation you would get it most of the time. So absorb that experience. Understand that it is not an inconceivable state.
This is the faith you should have in your ability. If i can see a little liberation , i have seen the feeling of peace in that situation. When i experience it then, why not all the time. At least most of the time. It is the same me who experienced this little moment of peace. So it is not something impossible for me. So it is possible for me to get liberation.
Here is the key to most of our problems. When you see a problem in front of you. Look away from the problem and turn your attention towards you immediately. Understand completely how you are reacting to it. You would understand that the problem is not at all with the external world just as in the case of a traffic signal. The tension, the stress , the frustration everything are arising in you and you are believing that they are true. You strongly associate the root cause of the problem in all other sources except you. Just think of this . Given the same situation , would a calm spiritual person respond the same way as you do ?. If it is possible for that person to respond in a nice way, why not you do the same way. If you can't do it the same way, can you say that the problem lies with the outside world only?.
Here in lies the spiritual path's uniqueness in solving problems. Each of us, have aggravated our own sufferings by improperly understanding life. But we have never looked at ourselves to be the cause of it, since we never invested time in atma jyana. What are my own contributions to the problems i face?Some people may say, it is possible that i may have contributed to the problem, but what about others and my environment?. If their contribution is more to the issues i face, what should i do?.
This is where your positivity can help you. Forgiveness is a great trait. Contentment is another great trait. Practice them both in your meditation. Remember one more thing . If you too respond and react in such a way so that you hurt yourselves, you are no different. Hurt is bad whether it is you or others. There is no space for that in spiritual life.
If you look at your experience you would see two conflicting things. One is the pure now that is happening right here in front of you. The other is the mind, which has everything except the now!!!. So you are essentially experiencing the now that is happening with a mind which is not in the now. So we are looking at the mind for happiness which it says is not in the now but is somewhere else. This is why it says stories. This is why it reacts to the now. If you teach it to be in the moment , appreciating everything as it appears, then it can see the little liberation as in the traffic signal. As incidents happen , which disturb or affect, let it go by the stream. Liberation is not a state , it is a verb and it is a release in each moment.
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