Chap. 1 contd.

How it began – continued

After 10 months on the hippy trail, the Hindu culture like a magnet sucked me in. I became firstly a student of yoga, Hindu philosophy and a guru follower. Then I became a wandering monk, a sadhu, and eventually a “mini-guru” myself. During my ten continuous years stay in India, I met a variety of gurus, yogis, holy men and holy women. I traveled the length of the country. Increasingly I was feted, garlanded and was dined in splendor by the prostrating devotees, who admired holy men.

At the end of it all I returned England almost on the spur-of-the-moment. Overnight I felt that to speak, think and dream in Hindi was ridiculous. Similarly my wrap-around cloths became trousers and shirts, and I became a normal Englishman again. (I did embark on series of more conventional travels and experiences over time).

I missed out on 10 years of what happened in the Western world during those years in India. On the other hand, especially later in India, I could sit all day long in a perfectly mindless state. Interestingly probably the main reason I left India, is that I became bored with being mindless! Of course nowadays “mindfulness” is considered wonderful. My attained state had been the ultimate of mindfulness goals!

It took me another 35 years back in the turbulence of life to get back to some of what I had in India. In the so-called normal world, it can be extremely hard to achieve a thoughtless state for most of the day, let alone periods of mindfulness. Unless of course one meditates around the clock. Besides it is unnatural, as we were meant to be active both mentally and physically. What we do need is the ability to switch the mind from Life and the Universe, and become a witness to our thoughts.

Why did events happened this way for me?

My answer is that all life is experience and no life experience is separate from the Divine.

Meditation and Truth

If we can initiate nature’s own native state and create our own quiet uneventful period we can control our destiny and future, instead of being like a leaf that is blown, subject totally to events and people around us.

Not that all people feel used or abused by life’s “evolutionary direction”. We are usually happy to procreate! Interestingly a seeming inability to create a quiet space can be taken as a positive in the world. We are seen as engaged, and therefore quite “sane”. Being engaged is often however taking what is actually forced upon us by circumstance. We may not admit this. Just we don’t like to feel powerless.

Having free time is therefore not always an easily acceptable thing, despite what the self-help books say. So it may be very difficult to create a space in one’s a busy world, where sitting down becomes possible. It can also be seen as indulging in selfish introspection! What a shock then if you clear time and space, stop agitation, distraction, and wants, and you just feel bored or worse, and all your cravings go ballistic! So much for the newfound freedom.

Free time to meditate etc. is a wonderful and necessary thing, but we also have to be able to deal with it and use it advantageously.

We probably have heard eulogies given to the scientific benefits of meditation, relaxation, or quiet prayer. Just try sit down for 5-10 minutes in absolute stillness with calm and reposed mind. Can be like trying to tame a bucking bronco. The mind is a wild animal. Or part of a relatively civilized mammal called human.

To reach a state of perfect happiness, peace or self-knowledge, may requires more application then just sitting in medication for half an hour twice daily. To get to a state of perfect yoga, one needs to be perfect yogi. Maybe ok for one who can sit in a cave for months at a time living on a very sparse diet and not watching any TV. Certainly not the Kardashian‘s or Coronation Street!

However it doesn’t really actually matter whether one is in New York, the Himalayas, or the outback. The setting is not too important, although there are optimum environments, diets and guided practices.

One should have access to useful materials. This can vary with one’s needs as one progresses. Do you need religion? Medication? (Possibly both!). Then potentially even a noisy place is then doable for meditation to take place. Yes suitable food, water, medicinal herbs, good company, and a bit of finance, always play a part in your search and endeavors on the spiritual path.

To become the controller in terms of spiritual awareness, one needs the ability to sit on a rather different plane completely. The philosophy of Gyana or Knowledge, says we are already Divine. (Part of Vedanta philosophy). We already have Divine experiences every single moment, and every single moment has a Divine purpose.

However the path of Bhakti, or Devotional path, says that we can’t just be living in a “delusion of holiness”. (As: “I am already Enlightened”). We need the Grace of an external God, a Higher Power, a personal something we surrender to, who then sorts everything out.

The path of Karma or Action, says we need to serve others, including God, guru, or church, to attain a higher state. Raja Yoga, (Kingly Yoga), says we need to control the senses, manage all aspects of daily routine, be able to sit in yoga posture, and control the mind. Food and drink is also vital, because intake forms not only the body, but also the mind. What you get rid of also important. The Truth will always be that. It Shines in its own Awareness, regardless of religion, spiritual path, culture, or circumstance. You will then need nothing!

Who AM I? What AM I?