Let us briefly discuss what we mean by the term liberation. What exactly do we mean by that term?. For many it is freedom. So a question arises freedom from what ?. I feel crunched is often the cry. I need freedom. Suppose you are put inside a jail. What is the freedom you have lost?. You have lost the freedom of movement. Your actions becomes limited. However you are free to think as much as you want. Nobody can put you in a jail to restrict thinking!!!. So here freedom means unrestricted movement of body . However in our life despite no restrictions practically, we feel crunched. Here again , we are not restricted in thought. So what is freedom in this case?.
Purno’ham. Cinmayoham ....Sat-cit-ananda svarupoham
We have been telling that the sense of lack of freedom comes from within. When we cling to our thoughts repeatedly, we can't break free from them. So the question comes "why do we cling to our thoughts like this". The answer can be found in the things we seek in life. Wealth , societal position, security , human relations and its problems. What is common to all?. A sense of inadequacy. I feel that i am limited now. If i attain these things at least i can be better. So until i get all these , how can i live in this world. These feeling is enhanced in all our life situations. So we go on thinking on these issues of inadequacy. This is what we want freedom from.
Some people may think with lots of money they would become adequate. Some people want security or power to become adequate. Now look at all these searches . Can inadequacy be really overcome?. Because in any endeavor there is bound to be losses. If we amass wealth , we would have undergone lot of sleepless nights destroying our health, tension to evade the taxes and what not, By the time we are rich, we would have undergone lot of losses. So money has not helped us after all. Also i never seem to reach anywhere. When do i stop and say , i have had enough ?. So sense of inadequacy is not easily overcome.
Some scientists and other people may work in a different way. They would be exploring knowledge. Their pursuit may not be wealth, but to amass knowledge. To become knowledgeable about the universe . Again this is a pursuit that never ends. Knowledge is always inadequate at any stage. There is always more to be learned than what we have learned.
The upshot of all this is evident, The sense of inadequacy can never be overcome. Any finite effort would only result in finite gain which is still inadequate from another level. So all our efforts in the worlds are doomed to failure in a sense. However when we act we never think about this end state. We continue our efforts despite all these and constantly think of our inadequacy. And since this is not easily overcome, we can never be free from these clinging thoughts.
Spirituality tends to take a different approach. Instead of overcoming the problem of inadequacy , it tries to go to the root of the issue. Who is that who feels inadequate?. Who wants more?. Let us first try to locate that entity. So instead of seeking it in the outside world, spiritual life focuses on the I who is seeking all these. So if common life is an outward journey to find adequacy, spiritual life is an inward journey to find the entity who is seeking . Let us truly find it out first, then let us ask whether there is a sense of inadequacy for that I.
To understand what we are , we need to clearly see what we are NOT. In meditation we see lots and lots of things. Thoughts, emotions , sensations , and so on. If we can witness them, clearly we are not all those. So we must be the seer of all these appearances in us. Now if we are what is seeing , then that entity cannot be affected by anything. Just as a microsope sees bacteria , fungus and all kinds of things but itself is never infected, the seer is only a seer, he never is affected by the seeing and the microscope is not bacteria, it is one which sees all microorganisms.
There is a zen story which tells us the futility of seeking ignoring our self
There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life. One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. Through the open gateway, he saw many fine possessions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant. To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself.
Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!" Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around. It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence.
"How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!" Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below.
"How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!" Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind.
"How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!" Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering rock.
"How powerful that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a rock!" Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the rock?" he thought. He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.
There is a zen story which tells us the futility of seeking ignoring our self
There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life. One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. Through the open gateway, he saw many fine possessions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant. To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself.
Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!" Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around. It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence.
"How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!" Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below.
"How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!" Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind.
"How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!" Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering rock.
"How powerful that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a rock!" Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the rock?" he thought. He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.
What is noticeable in all these seeing is that . There is impermanence in all things seen. However the seer itself is not changing. He is the constant of all experiences. In finding the limitations of the seer , we find none. For he is not the body and mind, so he must be defined as pure existence beyond body and mind. So where are the boundaries of awareness?. The thought occurs in your brain or mind so is limited , but awareness is not in the mind or brain . It is the background in which the body itself is appearing. So if it is not finite in space , it must be spread out. In time also it seems to always there.
So we are coming to the conclusion unlike all the things seen , awareness which is the real you seeing all these is truly unlimited. In finding you, you have also solved a problem in life. The sense of inadequacy. For the real you is not limited in any sense.
The self revealing consciousness is therefore the embodiment of fullness and indestructibility. It cannot be divided, it is free of all differences, it is free of subject object division and so creates the objects itself which it perceives. When there is fullness , what is the need for this mundane endeavors of life?. On an full stomach , even if you are offered your favorite sweet you would say , i would take it later. Just like that when you realize your identity and work from there, you would say i dont need anything because all are in me. Just as i dont desire my hand since it is in me, the world is only an appearance in me, so i dont need the world. I dont have desires to bind me. I am always free from all clinging.
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