The Many Meaning of Matrix

Larry Wachowski

The Matrix trilogy is the most successful cinematic venture of the past several decades. Together, The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions have grossed over three billion dollars worldwide, and the story continues with The Animatrix, The Matrix Comics, and The Matrix Online. The attention of audiences worldwide has been captured by the mind-bending storyline of these films and their phenomenal special effects, but the perennial question remains: What does it all mean? Larry and Andy Wachowski, the writers and directors of The Matrix trilogy, have been reluctant to share their interpretation of the films from day one, fearing that whatever they said would turn into dogma. However, this did present a problem for Warner Brothers when producing The Matrix DVD boxed set (to be released this fall). How do you have a director's commentary—a must for any boxed set—when the directors refuse to comment? What the Wachowskis did was to ask Ken Wilber and Cornel West to do the director's commentary on all 3 films. The following dialogue was recorded right before Ken flew to LA to meet with Larry and Cornel and do the recorded commentary. Ken and Cornel recorded 15 hours of commentary, which has been edited down to 6 hours to fit the 3 films, and the boxed set with all 3 films—and 6 hours of Ken and Cornel's commentary—will be released in October. In the following dialogue, for the first time ever, we are lucky enough to hear Larry publicly comment on this situation. As he explains, the movies were in many ways designed not to give answers, but to introduce questions. What does it mean to be human? What is reality? Who is in control? Does God exist? and so on. If he was to explain what he thought the movies meant, he would be providing people with another concept of reality to either accept or reject—either way, the open space created by the question would vanish. The Matrix injected mainstream culture with a straight shot of the surreal, where fact and fiction and truth and appearance are not grounded in a single pre-given "reality," because reality is simply what appears to be real. In a dream, the dream is real—until you wake up. In the Matrix, the Matrix is real—until you wake up. But what if you never woke up? It's questions like that that Larry wished to inspire, and he certainly succeeded. As Ken points out, the first movie is fairly easy to grok: everything in the Matrix is bad, everything outside of the Matrix is good. Everyone inside the Matrix is trapped, everyone outside the Matrix is free, and so on. But twenty minutes into part 2, Reloaded, and the audience discovers that the Oracle is a machine program, at which point most people go: um, what? What had begun as a simple good guy/bad guy movie had just become a complex piece of literature, with different levels of interpretation and a very sophisticated model of reality. Ken suggests that it's not until the last twenty minutes of part 3, Revolutions, that the key to the trilogy is revealed: although—and perhaps because—Neo is physically blind, he sees the machines as luminous, golden light—not quite how the "bad guys" are seen in most movies. And yet Neo is unmistakable in what he says to Trinity: "If you could see them as I see them, they are all made of Light...." Indeed, the machines represent Spirit, but Spirit as alienated and therefore attacking.... Thus, as Ken summarizes a more integral interpretation (that takes into account what is revealed in all three films), Zion represents body (filmed in blue tint), the Matrix represents mind (green tint), and the machines—this is the kicker revealed in part 3—represent spirit (golden tint). For those of you keeping track, this is indeed quite similar to the Great Nest of Being as taught by the world's wisdom traditions, a spectrum of being and consciousness reaching from body to mind to spirit. Borrowing from the wisdom of Christian mysticism, "The flames of Hell are but God's love denied," and so an alienated and dissociated spirit manifests as an army of machines bent on destroying humankind. It is only in the integration of body, mind, and spirit that all three are redeemed and peace returns. Ken and Larry go on to discuss their shared lifelong passion for philosophy. As Ken points out, Larry is just about as philosophically/spiritually well read as anyone you're likely to find, and The Matrix films are a stunning tribute to that fact. Larry said that when he found Ken's work, "It was like Schopenhauer discovering the Upanishads." Ken said that was grandiose enough to quote. Whereas Ken's books have been known to disrupt many a happy home (my spouse won't shut up about quadrants!), Larry's love of philosophy seems to run in the family: Larry and his father are reading Sex, Ecology, Spirituality together. Très cool! This dialogue is meant to highlight what a more integral view of interpretation involves. In chapters 4 and 5 of The Eye of Spirit, Ken suggests that any work of art can be interpreted from at least four or five major perspectives, none of which is privileged, all of which are important. These include: the artist's original intent (what did the artist himself or herself mean by this artwork?); unconscious factors in the artist; the cultural background of the artist; and the viewer response (what does the artwork mean to different viewers of the artwork?). [If you would like to download a pdf of these two chapters, please click here.] The Wachowskis did not want their own original intent to overpower the equally legitimate viewer response, and so they remained thunderously silent about their original intent. But, as this dialogue makes clear, Larry feels that perhaps the time is now ripe for some more integral interpretations of The Matrix trilogy that include all of those perspectives, which is why he and Ken have begun having these types of more public dialogues and commentaries. There is no single, definitive interpretation of The Matrix, because the sum total of perspectives is infinite. But there are more integral and less integral interpretations, and the integral interpretations—up to this point— have been getting the short end of the stick, something this dialogue is intended to end. Once again, Integral Naked is proud to present a conversation you will truly hear nowhere else.
From Integral Institute.org

Forrest Gump- Featherlitelight Existence

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdsMqRaz2WY

Forrest Gump is an interesting movie made in the nineties based on similar titled book enacted by Tom Hanks.On the surface this winner of many oscars is a story about a simpleton who goes through his life`s destiny in an eventful manner to accidentally attain celebrity status .His love jenny goes through hippie culture and rebelling with or without cause till she finds her redemption in him.
Most reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are not very charitable despite huge popularity of the movie.Many have felt its a sentimental movie which underscores that ignorance is bliss and that in order to do well its better to be an idiot like Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump.It is only naive to look at the movie so dumbly about a dumb guy.Here is why I think the movie has great life`s philosophy metaphorically captured with a strong narrative.

Forrest Gump has no predetermined concept of life.His marginally low IQ may appear to make him an idiot but he isnot.He is in a manner antithesis of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.Bill was self sentred and finds his redemption in living in the now after a grind of frustration and hopelessness.Forrest intutively knew the right things to do in life.In a a dialogue with Jenny he said it.
Jenny: Do you ever dream, Forrest, about who you're gonna be?
Forrest: Who I'm gonna be?
Jenny: Yeah.
Forrest: Aren't I going to be me?
Dont we all forget to be just me in order to achieve fame.Thats what drove jenny to selfdestruction in counter culture lifestyle.Drugs asnd Bohemy with added anti establishment cause celebre.
Forrest is an idiot who doesnot understand racism or anti racial movement but he knows what is right when he risks his life to save the life of his friend Bubba in vietnam war situation.Bubba was Black.
Forrest is an idiot who didnot understand anti war and beieved his sole purpose in joining army was to obey his superior.But he knew when not to obey his leuitnant when it came to saving human life.
Forrest is an idiot who knew to keep faith on his momma and understand that life is a chocolate box.You never know whats inside.He lived life truly as it came.Is this not choiceless awareness.
Forrest was an idiot who knew that promise are meant to be kept and promise he did keep with his dead friend Bubba by making him equal partner posthumously in shrimp boat business.
Forrest was an idiot who knew love very well.It was not based on possession nor on jealousy.He was alright with jenny`s rejection and and not jealous of her other friends but he knew that hurting somebody is not love which jenny`s boyfriend did it to her.His famous lines goes:
Forrest: Will you marry me? I'd make a good husband, Jenny.
Jenny: You would, Forrest.
Forrest: But you won't marry me.
Jenny: You don't want to marry me.
Forrest: Why don't you love me, Jenny? I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is.
He is an idiot who very well understood the philosophy of life.
Here it goes:I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time.

Was forrest Gump an idiot or someone who lived a pure life of joy,love,compassion and recognised destiny.He lived life dying to every moment and took each day as new.There was no regret or rancour for his low IQ or the abuses he suffered from childhood.In a symbolic way when he enters the school bus other children are not willing to have him near but he found his friend in jenny.Though he suffered similar rejection at all stages of life as a local idiot he found true friends in jenny and Bubba and later on Lt Dan.
When he felt like running he ran for three years.When he was tired he slept.When he was hungry he ate.Meeting U S presidents three times in his life didnot mean a thing to him.Receiving the medal of Honour was not a matter of pride.He simply gave it away to his love jenny.

In most difficult terrain of vietnam war he finds happiness .
Here it goes:Forrest: Yes. Well, I, I don't know. Sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out. And then it was nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bay... There was over a million sparkles on the water. Like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny. It looks like there were two skies, one on top of the other. And then in the desert, when the sun comes up... I couldn't tell where heavens stopped and the earth began. It was so beautiful.


He indeed lived life like a feather floating in air and doing his best wherever the breeze of times took him.Thats how the movie begins and ends with, a floating feather.A true featherlight existence in which there was no yesterday, no achiever but only joy of living.An epitome of virtue he was truly living liberated existence.
He was indeed J. Krishnamurti`s ideal man totally unconditioned and living with love ,passion and compassion.

Famous one liners from Forrest Gump

I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both.

Forrest Gump: Stupid is as stupid does.

Momma said that the Forrest part was to remind me that sometimes we all do things that, well, just don't make no sense.

Forrest Gump: I'm not a smart man... but I know what love is.

Mrs. Gump: It's my time. It's just my time. Oh, now, don't you be afraid, sweetheart. Death is just a part of life. It's something we're all destined to do. I didn't know it, but I was destined to be your momma. I did the best I could.
Forrest: You did good, Momma.
Mrs. Gump: Well, I happened to believe you make your own destiny. You have to do the best with what God gave you.
Forrest: What's my destiny, Momma?
Mrs. Gump: You're gonna have to figure that out for yourself. Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you're gonna get.

Forrest Gump: Mama always said, dying was a part of life.

Jenny: Do you ever dream, Forrest, about who you're gonna be?
Forrest: Who I'm gonna be?
Jenny: Yeah. `
Forrest: Aren't I going to be me?

Forrest Gump: That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I'd just run across the great state of Alabama. And that's what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another ocean, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep right on going.

Forrest: Yes. Well, I, I don't know. Sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out. And then it was nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bay... There was over a million sparkles on the water. Like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny. It looks like there were two skies, one on top of the other. And then in the desert, when the sun comes up... I couldn't tell where heavens stopped and the earth began. It was so beautiful.
Jenny: I wish I could have been there with you.
Forrest: You were.

Forrest Gump: And cause I was a gazillionaire, and I liked doin it so much, I cut that grass for free.

And now the best one.

I eat whenI am hungry and sleep when I am tired.Surely Tom hanks must have been a zen master

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Mind Can Move Mountains

In an earlier post Change Your Mind to Change Your Brain ,a book review of Sharon Begleys similar titled book I have touched upon possibility of mutation of brain cells through meditation as talked about by J.Krishnamurti .According to Buddha external life experiences and environment can shape your brain and therefore a meditative mind can alter the brain chemistry .It is very prophetic coming out of experiential observation 2500 years ago.In sharp contrast such a possibility is heretic and outside the portal of scientific methodology to even consider under modern science .Science by definition under the influence of cartesian philosophy is rooted in materialism as guiding principle of humanity.This blogpost attempts to understand the scientific breakthrough achieved in neuroscience in the last two or three decades and examines the postulation of Buddha in the light of new scientific understanding.Buddhist postulation is mainly Dalai Lama`s views to avoid any arbitrary interpretational hazard.
First about the book Change your mind and change your brain.It maps the scientific view of brain in the last hundred years and starts from the prevailing view to most recent cutting edge breakthrough breaking the previous myths on brain structure and its functions.
Prevailing View:A fast breaking Myth
1) We are almost having the same brain after the age of two or three.After that brain cells donot regenerate.Only synapses may regenerate but actual neurons do not regenerate.
2) Brain is structured to function as per its mapped geography.It is known as cortical organisation.The visual cortex does seeing,auditory cortex does hearing,motor cortex does muscular functions and so on.
3)Neurons donot regenerate just the way skin regenerates or liver regenerates.
4)Brain damage cannot be reversed.hence stroke, OCD and other brain related malfunctioning are difficult to treat.
5)There are neural pathways and man is a slave to his neural pathway borne out of habits or DNA and nothing can be done much about it.He is hardwired.
Emerging hypothesis:
1) Brain is not fixed immutable structure governed by birth or DNA.It is subject to evolution in the present lifetime at any age.It is knownas neuroplasticity. Brains capacity to change.
2) It changes very much with the phenonmenon of neurogenesis in which neurons are regenerated in a manner different from cell division(as neurons are not cells) but in its unique way.
3)Cortical reorganisation is very much possible.Brain geography as mapped today is not sacrosanct.Blind man use visual cortex to hear and deaf use auditory cortex to see peripherally.Hearing the lightening and seeing the thunder phenonmenon.
4)Experiments on mice,monkeys.ferrets and birds and human beings all validate in a foolproof manner cortical reorganisation of brain structure and functions.Any area unused in brain finds its alternative use sooner than later.It is known as malleability of brain matter.
5) Stroke patients and OCD patients have benefited on therapy based on neurogenesis and brain malleability.
6) Science accepts that brain influences mind so far.
But is reverse also true? Can mind influence brain? Science is hazy on the subject but neuroscience is actively seized with the possibility and substantial progress is done on that hypothesis.
Buddhism always held out that meditation can alter human behaviour.It however had no scientific backing except the personal experiences of intense meditators or some scientific observation that meditators emit gamma waves which indicate stress free condition.But if brain affect mind surely mind can affect brain in which case a whole exciting new world of possibilities open up.Mankind can volitionally become peace ful,compassionate and less self centred. Recent experiments on meditators who have done more than 10000 hrs of meditation does indicate the possibilty of mind changing brain as indicated by mri imaging,pet imaging etc.As of today OCD patients treated with induced constraint therapy where they mentally resolve to break their habitual pattern without drugs have met with reasonable success.A classic case of mind altering brain.Similar experiments on stroke patients have also met with amazing success.
Implications:A Buddhist Perspective
Human consciousness is not fixed immutable mental state.It is like a river which is ever changing,ever fluctuating.However the course of the river is not entirely DNA driven helpless force.It can be observed and altered in volitionally without compulsion.
If life is a selfless streamof consciousness then this stream can be made pure by excercising choiceless awareness.In this meditation there is absolutely non judgemental observation of thoughts,intentions,behaviour such that there is no self criticising or controlling.Such a state of awareness affects brain behaviour .The quietitude brings about dissolution of cravings and aversions.The old neural pathways undergo a fading phase out and a different form of energy is released.In short mind alters brain behaviour by altering its circuitry.In addition neurogenesis and neuroplasticity ensure a different consciousness which is not only free from pursuit of cravings but is non violent loving,caring and compassionateIt is like cultivating skillsets which inculcate love and compassion by sculpting desired neural pathways .Risking the hazard of trivialising it means happiness can be ordered which is not preposterous as eastern philosophies alwayd held out that happiness is individualistic and lies within.Neuroplasticity defies the deterministic view of genes.As a human I have a choice in how I react that who I am depends on the choices I make and that who I am is therefore my responsibility.
Why is this important:
Science and religion are traditionally viewed as the twain that shall never meet.Nowhere in human history are we closer in the sense that both starting from different end of the bridge are nearing closer at the centre.Science is engaged in providing bulwark of reason to religion without resorting to element of faith.There are two kinds of people in the world.One guided by faith and one skeptical of faith.Now there is nothing wrong in faith except that it can misguide or fail to deliver its noble purpose of alleviating human suffering.On the other hand modern science can strengthen the arguments of religion with its validation process .As faith based religion has divided people and created so much carnage perhaps the new age religion will draw lot of strength from science substituting faith with reason.Then faith will be conviction not a priori but post facto.Indeed science can meet Buddha.The wait is not very far..
(This article is inspired by Sharon Begley`s book Train your mind change your brain)

Congrats, You won a lottery Ticket

Prologue
Warren Buffet on Life in his usual inimical witty style.
Imagine that it is 24 hours before you are born. A genie comes to you and says that you get to design how the world will be before you enter it.You say, 'That sounds great. But what's the catch?' The genie says, 'There is only one catch. You will go to that barrel over there filled with 6billiontickets. You will pick one ticket at random, and that ticket will define who you will be in your world. It could say male; it could say female.Itcould say you will be born in the U.S.; it could say you will be born inBangladesh. It could say black; it could say white. It could sayintelligent; it could say retarded. It could say rich; it could saypoor.
'You should design the world in a way that is independent of what ticket you get.You got your ticket. If you now had the chance to pick 100 tickets from that barrel, but you had to give up your current life and to be one of the hundred picked, would you do it? Chances are, maybe 4 or 5 of thehundredwill say you will be born in the U.S. Maybe one will say you are above average intelligence. Maybe one will say you have above average income.Would you play? [pauses] ...Of course you wouldn't. You wouldn'tplay,which means you are in the top 1% of society. We are so lucky; most people in the world would give anything to play."
The Main Act:
Cut to the movie Bedazzled by Harold Ramis.A loaded Comedy.
Elliot Richards, a nerdy low-level technical advisor, makes a deal with the Devil (who happens to be a gorgeous woman, Liz Hurley ) to fulfill his wildest dreams of becoming rich, powerful and sexy. In exchange for his soul, the Devil temptress grants him seven wishes but they backfire. After asking to be rich, powerful and married to Alison, Elliot is transformed overnight into a Colombian drug lord. After wishing to become the "most sensitive man in the world," he ends up a sniveling, driveling fool. Even wishes to become a rock and roll superstar and basketball powerhouse don't pan out.He becomes US president as Abraham Lincoln soon to be assassinated.All the seven wishes turn out to be nightmarish forcing him to run to the devil to wriggle out of the contract.In the end he discovers himself in his current form with all his strengths and weaknesses and finds his dreamgirl .
Amazingly, bothe Harold Ramis and Warren Buffet say quite a lot in their own unique style of story telling format.In a hugely entertaining way oneis reminded of the bliss of current existence vis a vis imaginary life of rich and powerful as everyonesecretly covets.
Epilogue
One is born with a ticket and thats the best ticket. One could be rich and cancerous.I one could be healthy but poor.One could be successful and yet unhappy.One could be married and without child.One could be rich, educated ,healthy, successful and still in trouble.There is no ideal romanticised life situation better than the existing one .What matters is what you do with the existing life potential than live in the fantasy of concocted imaginative life wish.You have already win the lottery ticket.Go ahead and make the most of it.
Indeed,You should design the world in a way that is independent of what ticket you get.

EGO VS NON EGO

Ego - Passion

Non Ego - Compassion

Ego - Calculative

Non Ego - Simple

Ego - Cunning

Non Ego - Kindness

Ego - Logical

Non Ego - Intuitive

Ego - Acquisitive, Fear, Anxiety, Attachment, Competitive Etc.

Non Ego - Freed of Above
No - Thingness

From Sincerity Comes Truthfulness

From Truthfulness Comes Feeling

From Feelings Comes Harmlessness

From Harmlessness Comes Unselfishness

From Unselfishness Comes Detachment

From Detachment Comes Objectiveness

From Objectiveness Comes Clarity

From Clarity Comes Concentration

From Concentration Comes Observations

From Observations Comes Self – Real

From Self – Real Comes Alertness

From Alertness Comes Enlightenment

From Enlightenment Comes Bliss

AM I different?

In the maze of meandering mind
And wandering thoughts while
Meditating I realize life
Is but an existence.
The same as any other element
Of nature. Just energy, sheer peace .


Beads of events/phenomena/stimulus-response strung together on thread of thought through passage of time by the function of memory lead to solidification of functional entity called ‘I’.

“I’ gains permanence thanx to memory, solidifies to an extent it becomes a rock solid nearly real entity. Though fictional it is a pseudo reality that cannot be wished away.

Lets calls this ‘I’ a center. Thus it ‘I’ as a center is nothing but a product if thought. Rather it is a thought, an idea which is united by series of likes / dislikes, experiences, relations to people. In short phenomenal responses since childhood memories.

Such a center is akin to prison wall. Captures inside the center is being. The unconditioned, non individualistic, universal, nameless, unexperienciable. (Experiencible is ‘I’ the psendo entity, as experience is a recall if memory.Is this a hypothesis or verifiable conclusion?

Since the center is bound on the glue of memory it can be easily dissolved now itself. Simply become aware of thought & its journey. As the emergence of I – the actual process of solidification gather clarity thru observation of thoughts. Such an awareness in daily life moment to moment being constantly alert stems the process of ‘I’ forming. Then there is simply being, when observer is observed.

Observation prevents ‘I’ formation just as lack of awareness creates ‘I’ entity. Observation of a phenomena determines the possibility of the phenomena as per quantum physics.
So what does one go from here. A daily life awareness leads to right action. As there is dissolution of ‘I’ there is dissolution if desires and all encumbering qualities such as discontent, sorrow, incompleteness, hopes, fears, need for achievement.

Such a process is true meditation. Pranayam, physical exercise and seated meditation are necessary but not the sufficient conditions to become aware. It does help in taming of the mind ensuring better psychological & physical health and maintaining mind bodyvehicle.

As we realize that I is a bunch of thought as a matter of fact ,what is the next step?

Right action, right motivation, passion and compassion and right conduct follows as a natural outcome without effort. Just as two chemicals when combined release heat in exothermic reaction .Right Conduct is a natural automatic compelling outcome of aware human behaviour.

Human behaviour is destined to establish the right course of action. There is no escaping that knower knows the truth. The sky is clear just as clouds dispense. Similarly self / being is transparent when thoughts dispense.

Mind as an vehicle with thought as a tool is as much real as nails on the toe. Just as nail protect the toe mind help survival and lining. Just like clipping an outgrown nail we can clip pernicious effect of mind through meditation.

Mind is a turbulent, waterbody disturbed by stones of ‘me’ my greatness, my superiority, my achievements, my intelligence, my my, my, vs yours, yours, yours. Stop stone throwing and mind becomes a calm waterbody. Mind`s destiny is madhouse said osho.Captured in the madhouse is the "I"which when freed is a whole new world of freedom

Would a being who is not guided by ‘I’ concept live life fully, rightfully. Is there a danger of falling into non motivational sloth. Traditionally the compelling force of doing better than the neighbour has led human actions towards both extraordinary achievements as well as destructive behaviour. The so called right action / right conduct comes to enlightened Buddhas, siddhi. Yogis, accomplished beings. In daily life the discipline to be aware every moment is lost leading to yo-yo between I and non I ness.

May be each one finds out for himself. May be awareness has the power to lay the path of action.

If I have no reference to myself. What happens?

There is no memory of the past
There is no imagination of future

There is no reference to people who are around me
Or who were with me

There is no malice towards anyone
There is no attachment towards anyone

There is no memory therefore no desire
To continuity of pleasant experience,
Nor any regrets of unpleasant experience.

In such a state there is direct perception.
A ‘mindless’ existence.

There is a state of existence without
The interference of mind

Such a state is perhaps pure consciousness
A state of meditation

Can such a state exist in daily life
With usage of mind only as tool at the command of self.

Isn’t such a self, universal.
There is no such self which is personal or proprietary.

Consciousness in krishnamurti`s Teachiings

Vasantha Vihar-The Home of J.Krishnamurti

Pointers to Consciousness
Ø Consciousness is made up of its content.

Ø Without the content consciousness as we know it does not exist.

Ø The content of consciousness is put together by thought.

Ø Thought is a material process and therefore is limited.

Ø So consciousness is always limited.

Ø Any action of consciousness trying to go beyond itself is still a limitation.

Ø Unless there is a radical mutation in consciousness, outward activities will bring about more mischief, more sorrow and more confusion.

Ø Only a complete mutation in consciousness will bring about a new world, a new civilization, a new way of living and a new relationship between man and man.

Ø The ending of the content of consciousness is radical mutation.

Ø The mutation in consciousness is the ending of time, which is the ending of the “me” which has been produced through time.

Ø To bring about mutation in consciousness a totally different kind of energy is required.

Ø The mind must be totally devoid of thought, so that there is observation without idea; such observation gives the tremendous energy for mutation.

Ø As long as the division between the observer and the observed exists there can be no radical mutation of consciousness.

Ø If you observe the process of thinking and do not become an observer apart from the observed, if you see the whole movement of thought without accepting or condemning it, then that very observation puts an immediate end to thought. The mind is then compassionate; it is in a state of constant mutation.

Ø When there is pure observation of any problem there is a transformation, a mutation, in the very structure of the brain cells.

Ø When one fundamentally, deeply brings about a mutation, then that mutation affects the whole consciousness of man.

Ø Consciousness, then, is totally different…. Perhaps we won’t even use that word consciousness…. It is of a totally different dimension….A dimension which exists naturally….You cannot speculate about that dimension.

Source; KFI ,sahyadri reference material.

Astavakra and J.Krishnamurti

It is not in sync with the philosophy of J.Krishnamurti to compare it with other philosophies or scriptures.Rightly so, as the cornerstone of the philosophy is to be light unto oneself with an emphasis on seeing the truth or actuality as he used to say, oneself.In fact very categorically he said that dont believe because he said so but lets do the journey of introspection step bt step together.Belief being conditioning belong to the field of knowledge and thought and hence is not fresh whereas understanding borne out of attention leads to ending of time,ending of sorrow,ending of fear and death of psychological me.The whole philosophy is then to unravel the genesis of psychological me and the unreality of observer.

Therefore this article of comparative nature is not intended to backtest the philosophy or validate it because scriptures said so.It is just marvellous to observe the truth of what is being said 5000 years apart. Truth has to be one and the same and therefore no prize for guessing its the same.In fact if it is not identical then there is something to question.This blog just attempts to amazingly look at the way of teaching over two different era.The language is different, the approach is different,the vocabulary has changed and yet it says the same.Astavakra is in the form of dialugues between this ancient sage and King janaka of mahabharata fame.It is in the form of short sanskrit slokas and basically rests on splendour of non dual self as taintless and timeless from which the universe is reflected just as in mirror.

J,Krishnamurti`s style is traversing the journey together with the listener and make him see the truth factually.Lets see it from the view of core messages spoken by both of them.



J.K : Observer is observed. Observer sees for himself that he is not different from the observation and that he has emerged as a seperate stream by the virtue of thinking process.Seeing the falsity of observer is all.Then there is a different dimension. Thinker is thought and analyser is analysed

Astavakra:You are the one seer of all and surely ever free.This indeed is your bondage that you see seer differently.. The triple category of Knower,knowledge and object of knowledge doesnot exist in reality..It is in myself without attributes the triad becomes manifest due to ignorance.
When you analyse it, cloth is found to be just thread. In the same way, when all this is analysed it is found to be no other than oneself.Waves, foam and bubbles do not differ from water. In the same way, all this which has emanated from oneself, is no other than oneself.




J.K. : Man, in order to escape his conflicts, has invented many forms of meditation. These have been based on desire, will, and the urge for achievement, and imply conflict and a struggle to arrive. This conscious, deliberate striving is always within the limits of a conditioned mind, and in this there is no freedom. All effort to meditate is the denial of meditation. Meditation is the ending of thought. It is only then that there is a different dimension which is beyond time

Astavakra: You are non-dual, non-active and Self-effulgent. That you practise meditation, this, indeed, is your bondage. The Supreme Silence of wisdom transcends any effort of thought of conceptualization.
You are really unbound and actionless, self-illuminating and spotless already. The cause of your bondage is that you are still resorting to stilling the mind.



J.K:Choiceless Awareness is real freedom.There is no real freedom when there is choice.when there choice theere is psychological me present preventing freedom. Along as me is present there is fear and sorrow.Conflict and anxiety.First step is the last step- that is freedom from the self.

Astavakra:I am like the ocean and this phenomenal world is like its waves With such an understanding there is neither acceptance nor rejection nor dissolution.Oh, I am pure consciousness.
Desire and anger are objects of the mind, but the mind is not yours, nor ever has been. You are choiceless, awareness itself and unchanging - so live happily.
The emancipated one has neither aversion nor craving for objects of senses.With his detached mind he enjoys equally what is attained and what is not attained.
Bondage is when the mind longs for something, grieves about something, rejects something, holds on to something, is pleased about something or displeased about something.
When there is no "me" that is liberation, and when there is "me" there is bondage. Consider this carefully, and neither hold on to anything nor reject anything.

J.K.: Intelligence, love and compassion exists where thought ceases.Love has no opposite.It is not the opposite of hate .Non violence is not the opposite of violence.Where there is compassion there is no violence.
Astavakra: Self is pure non dual consciousness full of bliss and void of attributes.Self is above pair of opposites.

J.K: Burn all the books even my books.No guru can give you deliverance .You are light unto yourself.
Astavakra:To me ,siva and unconditioned what is teaching and scripture ,what is disciple and what is master and what is ultimate goal of life.
My son, you may recite or listen to countless scriptures, but you will not be established within until you can forget everything.
If even Shiva, Vishnu or the lotus-born Brahma were your instructor, until you have forgotten everything you cannot be established within.


J.K.: Thought is fragmentary.It divides thinker and the thought.Where there is division there is conflict.When thought ceases there is an immensity which is not a product of mind.It is sacred.
Astavakra:Self is indivisible,immutable,self abiding ,serene,blissful,formless,supreme and pure.

Take any random slokas from astavakra and it will have a corresponding quotable quote from krishnamurti.As mentioned earlier this excercise doesnot validate anything for truth is self validated by definition.
The only difference is in connotation of certain words.Like for krishnamurti consciousness is defined as content of consciousness and astavakra defines consciousness as pure cosmic life giving taintless energy.Krishnamurti has refrained from defining pure consciousness as by definition it defies description.That which is immense and nameless cannot be described in words.
" Consciousness, then, is totally different…. Perhaps we won’t even use that word consciousness…. It is of a totally different dimension….A dimension which exists naturally….You cannot speculate about that dimension. "

Beyond The Mind

This is a book review of Beyond The Mind by Dada Gavand.
This book is a very interesting conversation with eight successful people in the US.In a very direct and warm dialogues with a seeker, a family man, a woman, a wealthy person, a researcher,an artist. a psychotherapist and a meditator the marvels of life are revealed.
What is meditation? How does one deal with emotional problems, are woman less suitable towards spirituality due to their emotions? How does a professional conduct himself, awaken his spirituality,live in this world and yet remain out of mind-thought activity?He puts it beautifully in his poem:

Freedom From Time:
Life has gathered Dust on the Way
During Her Centuries of Travelling Time.
Particles of the Dust
Have Developed into a Mountain
Which calls itself ‘I’~ The Mind.

This Dusty mold
Of millions of yesterdays Past
Is an Imposition and
Burden upon Life Energy.
Freedom from this
Dusty mountain of Past
Is the Purification and
Liberation of Life.

Life Fulfills itself
Through its own
Liberation.

Key takeaway:

Disquietude is nothing but ceaseless thought activity. We try to quieten one thought with another idea, which then becomes a fight between two opposing thoughts. This way we remain in the same field of mind. This creates seeking, which is nothing but a struggle and conflict. We may hang on to some words, pictures, mantras, but again it is an idea, a seeking of the mind. The mind will never lead us to quietude. We start chanting mechanically, and again it becomes a habit of the mind. So we are never free from thought. The spirit is a quality of a new dimension, and thought has to resign for the spirit to come in.In other words When there is quietitude,when there is no seeker there is unleashng of whole energy which is life.

His Message:

One needs to look at everything that moves within the field of mind. This must not be a superficial inquiry but one carried out with one’s entire being. One has to be watchful to catch every thought as it arises – follow its trajectory – how it comes up, moves and ends. Then one will begin to realize that the entire movement of thought is habitual and mechanical.Only through attentive watchfulness will this mechanical and compulsive movement of thought, lose its momentum and finally come to an end. In such ending one will discover a mysterious momentum of quietude.If one wants peace, creativity and love, one has to undertake this inward journey. One may be clever, but mere cleverness will not lead to that state of peace and ecstasy which is the very basis of life.

At present, the mind has become a storehouse of the past – of information and knowledge gathered from books, classrooms etc and used cleverly again and again. All our thoughts and ideas come from stored information which is always of the past. So the mind is an expression of the old, the past, though it works so cleverly and so fast that it appears to be just in the present.
Life, the living quality, functions in the present, in the twinkling momentum of the ‘now’. Thought cannot touch this dynamic momentum which is very spontaneous and intuitive. The past cannot touch the present. One needs a fresh, intuitive consciousness to meet Life – not second- hand ideas based on memory, on the past.One has to wait within in silence, in the state of innocence and anonymity. The mind activity has to remain absolutely quiet without the interference of thought. Such a silent state of thought-less-ness and not-knowing alone invites something of a higher dimension to give the experience of that which is Timeless.

In a way Dada talks more directly and serves in a ready to eat package what J.Krishnamurti has tried to teach through his talks.Basically he talks about freedom from the known and ending of time and I as a past memory and watchful attentiveness.It is good in the sense it is clear and direct.There is no going around it in a conundrum.The flip side is that it may fail to provoke enough and drive the urgency to be light unto oneself.Once the intellectual curiousity is fulfilled mind may get back to its old game.Whilst J.Krishnamurto would tear one apart into the conundrum step by step without ready answers.Dada gives the answers wheras J.K enables the reader to derive answers.


Dattaram Gavand, a mystic, traveller and photographer, was born in Mumbai in 1917. The eldest child of his parents, he came to be called Dada or elder brother.

Not Because Krishnamurti Said So

SUPREME BLISS-LAKE TAHOE

Freedom is not in becoming.Freedom is being.Not because J.Krishnamurti said so.It is so damn obvious.Only a brain dead cannot see it.

Where does the real freedom lie? Does it lie in choice? What is real freedom and how is it obtained?.Scriptures talk about reality and illusion and how man is a slave to his illusions.Krishnaji talk about real freedom as freedom from known .To ordinary people like us either there is irreverence to such words with no meaning whatsoever or there is a reverence borne out of tradition for such a concept.Because it is said so and it sounds good or respectful there must be some truth in it.Scarcely do we endeavour sincerely ourselves to delve in the significance of such words or test the hypothesis ourselves by closely watching it step by step, moment to moment in our daily life.
Firstly, we need to define freedom.There is almost a contradiction in what we say as freedom and what actually freedom is. For instance we feel affordability to spend or ability to dominate or respectful position in society as freedom.To some being their own boss or a general flexibility in life is freedom.To most ability to choose is freedom.However in all such defined freedom there is a compulsion.If we observe very very minutely there is a compulsion to act in a particular manner.For instance action based on desire to achieve something, most of the time tangible materialistic accumulations.Or else there is ubiquitous demand to win societal approbation.A self cherished position in the heirarchy in any given structure such as school,university,jobplace and so on.Every step we take , every breath we take is motivated most of the time towards self enhancement.Is being a servant to self aggrandising freedom? There is after a while in human life a monotonous ,boring repetetive life driven by a strong propelling force thrusting oneself into an upward spiral of society.Either one is aspirant and a slave to those aspirations or one has reasonably achieved and is a slave to maintain it or enhance it further.
It is so involuntory, so addictive , so compulsive and so deeply ingrained in the DNA that one is oblivious to the fact that day by day we are ceating our prison brick by brick.In that prison is imprisoned our true freedom.Unfortunately despite a lot of trauma that it brings people are attracted to live a bonded life for the apparent comfort and momentary pleasures.Therefore despite understanding that happiness cannot be a function of external variables the lure of trap is huge.Almost like the force of gravity.In the allegorical movie Matrix, the charecter Cypher who is a freedom fighter having come out of illusory world of Matrix,gets tired and yearns to go back to the unreal world of matrix.He says" Ignorance is Bliss" when betrays Neo their leader to Agent Smith, the machine simulated perpetrator.Therefore the path to real freedom is fraught with initial hardship especially as a human we are conditioned by birth and society to respond in a particular manner which is habit forming response.Only a very very attentive choiceless observation reveals in its true naked (un)glory the motivations of self.How there is a constant pressure to perform, to achieve, to compare, to compete and to win.Is action based on winning a freedom or action driven choicelessly by carefree being not wanting to prove anything real freedom? It is in flying like jonathan livingstone seagull.It is soaring high with no nobody above or nobody below though every body is around . It is racing in life with nobody .The winning post is not set by anybody.There are no benchmarks in that heaven of freedom in the land of dream.
There is a zen koan about a master who is hit by a stick on the street by a mischiefmonger.The master gets up and offers the mischief monger his stick back.The followers are astounded.This is the mind of a sage: not choosing,not asking,not saying this should be and this shouldnot be.Whatsoever happens he accepts it in its totality.This acceptance gives him freedom.This acceptance gives him the capacity to see.These are I diseases: shoulds, should nots.divisions,judgements,condemnations and appreciation.
Freedom is not in becoming .Freedom is being.Not because krishnamurti said so.It is so damn obvious.Only a braindead cannot see it.

Pondering on Koan

ZEN MASTER

Kōans originate in the sayings and doings of sages and legendary figures, usually those authorized to teach in a lineage that regards Bodhidharma (c. 5th-6th century) as its ancestor. Kōans are said to reflect the enlightened or awakened state of such persons, and sometimes said to confound the habit of discursive thought or shock the mind into awareness. Zen teachers often recite and comment on kōans, and some Zen practitioners concentrate on kōans during meditation. Teachers may probe such students about their kōan practice using "checking questions" to validate an experience of insight (kensho) or awakening. Responses by students have included actions or gestures, "capping phrases" (jakugo), and verses inspired by the kōan.
Appropriate responses to a kōan may vary according to circumstances; different teachers may demand different responses to a given kōan, and a fixed answer cannot be correct in every circumstance. One of the most common recorded comments by a teacher on a disciple's answer is: "Even though that is true, if you do not know it yourself it does you no good." The master is looking not for an answer in a specific form, but for evidence that the disciple has actually grasped the state of mind expressed by the kōan itself.
Thus, though there may be so-called "traditional answers" (kenjo) to many kōans, these are only preserved as exemplary answers given in the past by various masters during their own training. In reality, any answer could be correct, provided that it conveys proof of personal realization. Kōan training can only be done with a qualified teacher who has the "eye" to see a disciple's depth of attainment. In the Rinzai Zen school, which uses kōans extensively, the teacher certification process includes an appraisal of proficiency in using that school's extensive kōan curriculum.
A kōan may be used as a test of a Zen student's ability. For monks in formal training, and for some laypersons, a teacher invokes a kōan and demands some definite response from a student during private interviews.(wikipedia)

If you see the buddha ,kill it.Its a famous kaon.
Some interesting Kaons:

A Cup of Tea
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"
"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"


Non-Attachment
Kitano Gempo, abbot of Eihei temple, was ninety-two years old when he passed away in the year 1933. He endeavored his whole like not to be attached to anything. As a wandering mendicant when he was twenty he happened to meet a traveler who smoked tobacco. As they walked together down a mountain road, they stopped under a tree to rest. The traveler offered Kitano a smoke, which he accepted, as he was very hungry at the time.
"How pleasant this smoking is," he commented. The other gave him an extra pipe and tobacco and they parted.
Kitano felt: "Such pleasant things may disturb meditation. Before this goes too far, I will stop now." So he threw the smoking outfit away.
When he was twenty-three years old he studied I-King, the profoundest doctrine of the universe. It was winter at the time and he needed some heavy clothes. He wrote his teacher, who lived a hundred miles away, telling him of his need, and gave the letter to a traveler to deliver. Almost the whole winter passed and neither answer nor clothes arrived. So Kitano resorted to the prescience of I-King, which also teaches the art of divination, to determine whether or not his letter had miscarried. He found that this had been the case. A letter afterwards from his teacher made no mention of clothes.
"If I perform such accurate determinative work with I-King, I may neglect my meditation," felt Kitano. So he gave up this marvelous teaching and never resorted to its powers again.
When he was twenty-eight he studied Chinese calligraphy and poetry. He grew so skillful in these arts that his teacher praised him. Kitano mused: "If I don't stop now, I'll be a poet, not a Zen teacher." So he never wrote another poem.


The Dead Man's Answer
When Mamiya, who later became a well-known preacher, went to a teacher for personal guidance, he was asked to explain the sound of one hand.
Mamiya concentrated upon what the sound of one hand might be. "You are not working hard enough," his teacher told him. "You are too attached to food, wealth, things, and that sound. It would be better if you died. That would solve the problem."
The next time Mamiya appeared before his teacher he was again asked what he had to show regarding the sound of one hand. Mamiya at once fell over as if he were dead.
"You are dead all right," observed the teacher, "But how about that sound?"
"I haven't solved that yet," replied Mamiya, looking up.
"Dead men do not speak," said the teacher. "Get out!"

Sound of one Hand Clapping
Osho : If you have heard about Zen masters... they go on telling their disciples to go and meditate, meditate on the sound of one hand clapping. We can create a sound by clapping two hands. Zen masters say to their disciples, ”Go and find out that sound which comes out of only one hand: the clapping of one hand, not with anything else.”
We know this is absurd. A sound can come only with conflict, with two things clashing. Two hands can create sound, not one hand. Zen masters also know that, but still they have been giving this meditation for centuries. From Buddha up to now, Zen masters go on giving it. They know, their disciples know, that this is absurd. Then what is the significance? One has to watch, meditate, and move towards a sound which is already there, which is not created. That is the meaning of the sound of one hand.



The sound of one hand
Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand?
— Hakuin Ekaku
"...in the beginning a monk first thinks a kōan is an inert object upon which to focus attention; after a long period of consecutive repetition, one realizes that the kōan is also a dynamic activity, the very activity of seeking an answer to the kōan. The kōan is both the object being sought and the relentless seeking itself. In a kōan, the self sees the self not directly but under the guise of the kōan...When one realizes ("makes real") this identity, then two hands have become one. The practitioner becomes the kōan that he or she is trying to understand. That is the sound of one hand." — G. Victor Sogen Hori, Translating


If you meet the Buddha, kill him.
— Linji
If you are thinking about Buddha, this is thinking and delusion, not awakening. One must destroy preconceptions of the Buddha. Zen master Shunryu Suzuki wrote in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind during an introduction to Zazen, "Kill the Buddha if the Buddha exists somewhere else. Kill the Buddha, because you should resume your own Buddha nature."

Mind of a Sage
Osho : One Zen monk, Bokuju, was passing through a street in a village. Somebody came and struck him with a stick. He fell down, and with him, the stick also. He got up and picked up the stick. The man who had hit him was running away. Bokuju ran after him, calling, ”Wait, take your stick with you!”
He followed after him and gave him the stick. A crowd had gathered to see what was happening, and somebody asked Bokuju, ”That man struck you hard, and you have not said anything!”
Bokuju is reported to have said, ”A fact is a fact. He has hit, that’s all. It happened that he was the hitter and I was the hit. It is just as if I am passing under a tree, or sitting under a tree, and a branch falls down. What will I do? What can I do?”
But the crowd said, ”But a branch is a branch, this is a man. We cannot say anything to the branch, we cannot punish it. We cannot say to the tree that it is bad, because a tree is a tree, it has no mind.”
Bokuju said, ”This man to me is also just a branch. And if I cannot say anything to the tree, why should I bother to say anything to this man? It happened. I am not going to interpret what has happened. And it has already happened. Why get worried about it? It is finished, over.”
This is the mind of a sage – not choosing, not asking, not saying this should be and this should not be. Whatsoever happens, he accepts it in its totality. This acceptance gives him freedom, this acceptance gives him the capacity to see. These are eye diseases: shoulds, should nots, divisions, judgments, condemnations, appreciations.
Source: from book “Vedanta: Seven Steps to Samadhi” by Osho

Extracts from Krishnamurti`s Teachings

You are the World
"You and the world are not two different entities with separate problems; you and the world are one. You may be the result of certain tendencies, on environmental influences, but you are not different fundamentally from another. Inwardly we are very much alike; we are all driven by greed, ill will, fear, ambition, and so on..."
manOrganised Religions
"[Organized religion] separates from man. You are a Muslim, I am a Hindu, another is a Christian or a Buddhist - and we are wrangling, butchering each other. Is there any truth in that?"
Your God is not God
"The mind is the product of the past, it is the result of yesterday, and can such a mind be open to the unknown? It can only project an image, but that projection is not real; so your God is not God - it is an image of your own making..."
The Mirror of Relationship
"... if one can just look into this mirror [of relationship] with full attention and see actually what is, be aware of it without condemnation, without judgement, without evaluation...then one will find that the mind is capable of freeing itself from all conditioning; and it is only then that the mind is free to discover that which lies beyond the field of thought"
Self-Knowledge
"Self-knowledge comes into being when we are aware of ourselves in relationship, which show what we are from moment to moment."
Being Related
"In a world of vast organizations, vast mobilizations of people, mass movements, we are afraid to act on a small scale; we are afraid to be little people clearing up our own patch... and the small scale is the "me" and the "you". When I understand myself, I understand you, and out of that understanding comes love."
Love and Observation
"I must love the very thing I am studying. If you want to understand a child, you must love and not condemn him. You must play with him, watch his movements, his idiosyncrasies, his ways of behaviour; but if you merely condemn, resist, or blame him, there is no comprehension of the child. Similarly, to understand what is, one must observe what one thinks, feels, and does from moment to moment. That is the actual."
Face the Fact
"I'm in sorrow...and I have an idea about it: what I should do, what I should not do, how it should be changed. That idea, that formula, that concept prevents me from looking at the fact of what is."
"Because the human being is incapable of meeting the fact of violence, he has invented the ideal of non-violence, which prevents him from dealing with the fact."
Learning
"Learning is one thing and acquiring knowledge is another. Learning is a continuous process, not a process of addition, not a process which you gather and then from there act."
Insight
"Truth or understanding comes in a flash, and that flash has no continuity; it is not within the field of time."
Self Knowing and Meditation
"Without knowing yourself, do what you will, there cannot possibly be the state of meditation. I mean by "self-knowing", knowing every thought, every mood, every word, every feeling... And merely to try to meditate without first establishing deeply, irrevocably, that virtue which comes about through self-knowing is utterly deceptive and absolutely useless."
Meditation
"So, to meditate is to purge the mind of its self-centered activity. And if you have come this far in meditation, you will find there is silence, a total emptiness. The mind is uncontaminated by society; it is no longer subject to any influence, to the pressure of any desire. It is completely alone, and being alone, untouched it is innocent. Therefore there is a possibility for that which is timeless, eternal, to come into being. This whole process is meditation."
The Religious Man
"The religious man is he who does not belong to any religion, to any nation, to any race, who is inwardly completely alone, in a state of not-knowing, and for him the blessing of the sacred comes into being."
Copyright © KFA/Book of Life

In Seeing Is Ending

If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation." "The little book on LIVING: J.Krishnamurti

The core of J krishnamurti`s philosophy is to be aware.A man of awareness carries no cargo.He is unburdened.To be aware about one`s cravings and aversions.How cravings lead to attachment and continuity of pleasure seeking.How aversion leads to violent behaviour.How thought creates "me "which is nothing but psychological time.It is continuity of past modified to the present and projected towards future.Such a process create a life of regret,discontent,conflict and disequilibrium.In the sense that one is always restless towards better tomorrow.When time ends there is a different propelling force.The momentum of life is governed by a choiceless action.Such awareness is brought about by attention and the same is not to be mistaken with concentration.A man is light unto himself and no amount of reading can deliver him from ignorance nor can guru offer deliverance.At the most guru can point a finger and the rest is on the individual .It is so clear when one is attentive in which one can see himself naked in the mirror of relationship with the world.The hidden motives, the cunningness of self,the self flattery that is sought, the repugnance to inconvenient truth,the vulnerability and fragility of self to insults( basically other people`s opinion about you,the projection of self etc can be seen emerging in the mind.To see this one has to be choiceless and non judgemental then the designs of mind can be seen taking shape.In that one can see that there is myriad web of relationship between images.Image of oneself.Image of others.Image of what others think about you and so on.It is a conflicting cobweb.There is no real relationship or real living.Real freedom is the emancipation of self from rigors of compulsive mind.How cleverly mind enslaves and any attempt to free oneself is futile because mind trap cannot free itself from the trap.Like knife cannot cut itself.In order to quell mind one has to choicelessly observe the shenanigans of mind.In that observer sees that observation and observer are the same.Perceiver is perception.Thinker is thought and analyser is analysed.In that lies true freedom because on seeing there is ending .Thats the moment of insight.Any action from that insight is freed of self interest and has to be therefore right action. In his own words:Insight is not an act of remembrance, the continuation of memory. Insight is like a flash of light. You see with absolute clarity, all the complications, the consequences, the intricacies. Then this very insight is action, complete. In that there are no regrets, no looking back, no sense of being weighed down, no discrimination. This is pure, clear insight - perception without any shadow of doubt.

Love, compassion and intelligence belong to that ground of being which is not from the field of thought.He called it Freedom from the Known.A life free of conflict and unconditioned by established notions.Again most of what he preaches is not one way discourse but an attempt to handhold listeners to see the actuality of truth himself.It is therefore not based on belief system but is on realising oneself.Is there a scientific background to this thinking? Lots and well supported by eminent scientists in enormous dialogues with K when he was alive.

In his dialogues with Dr Bohm in Ending of Time there is exploration whether brain cells can mutate and if it does then there is hope for mankind.Today modern science corroborate that brain cells can mutate at any age.Quantum physics say that matter can be either wave or particle and the choice is made on observation.Accordingly, matter when under observation undergoes a change.If so brain under choiceless observation can undergo a change. Then phenonmenon such as envy, greed and competetion undergo a natural, spontaneous change.There is no changer at work.Change happens when the changer realises he is not seperate from the changed(envy,greed etc)

Attention is to be attentive to thoughts as it emerges and thats true meditation.Meditation is not sitting crosslegged and trying to catch tthoughts and supress it.Meditation is not a game of catch me if you can with thoughts.In a lighter vein there goes a joke on meditation.There are three monks, who had been sitting in deep meditation for many years amidst the Himalayan snow peaks, never speaking a word, in utter silence. One morning, one of the three suddenly speaks up and says, ‘What a lovely morning this is.’ And he falls silent again. Five years of silence pass, when all at once the second monk speaks up and says, ‘But we could do with some rain.’ There is silence among them for another five years, when suddenly the third monk says, ‘Why can’t you two stop chattering?”
.It is obliteration of thoughts by attention.Content and consciousness is the same when content is emptied there is living.Then consciousness as we know it doesnot exist.It is different dimension where the psychological" me " is absent.He beautifully described it as Living is dying to every moment.When you do so there is no baggage of past.There is no self image to be serviced nor there is any need to conform against will.No conformity,no peer pressure .How does one do it? Self-knowledge is not knowing oneself, but knowing every movement of thought. Because the self is the thought, the image, the image of K and the image of the `me.' So, watch every movement of thought, never letting one thought go without realizing what it is. Try it. Do it and you will see what takes place.
Masters, gurus, teachers, cannot help to free thought from its own self-imposed bondage and suffering; neither ceremonies, nor priests, nor organizations, can liberate thought from its attachments, fears, cravings; these may force it into a new mould and shape it, but thought can free itself only through its own critical awareness and self-reliance. (J.K.)
Where does God and religion stand in the life of man? Conventional religion is highly conditioning and sets man in another loop of self enhancement.It may be palliative, it may prescribe certain right truism like not to be angry etc but may not help deliverance.God and God`s Grace ascend when when there is no seeking.When psychological me and its chattering stops there is ending of time.In that attention there is no experiencing,there is silence which is not induced by any mantra or disciplined approach. It happens outside the fielld ofthought.Sacred is that which is not touched by anything manmade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1AvljMbU8c

Its not a Groundhog day anymore

Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated onFeb 2 in the US and Canada.According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeksThats the the background of the movie by Harold Ramis in which the protoganist ,a TV news reporter finds himself struggling day in and day out.Actually he is caught in a time loop and finds that everyday is the same day.He has to do reporting ad infinitum ,ad nauseum with similar situations and same set of people.If he doesnot do reporting he still finds himself condemned to the same day as he wakes up each morning and everything repeats itself predictably.In frustration he does every conceivable self destructive behaviour including an attempt to suicide but finds himself waking up to the same day.In short he is trapped in the time loop.He finds himself isolated and alienated as people around him donot have any memory of his existence as each day is FEB 2, the groundhogday.
The whole movie is about how he discovers that each day is not the same day and that each day can be a new day.Inthe process he finds meaning of life,his love in his life and the satisfaction of alleviating other people`s suffering.Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMtWAcVy6-w
So why am I writing about GroundHog day on a blog suppossedly to be more serious and labeled metaphysics?.What has philosophy got to do with a comedy hollywood movie?
The movie is a clever metaphor to the daily grind of living that each individual is condemned to live.One makes a brave attempt to battle it out or seemingly indulge in escapist fare to give an illusion of happiness.Is there a true freedom in the way we live life conforming to a pattern of earning and becoming on a day to day basis.Are we not trapped in a time loop with each day being hardly different structurally.The so called progress or achievements also fall in the same matrix of predictability and compulsive routine.There is no real freedom as one is either a slave to one`s success or frustration.Real freedom is freedom from the known as krishnamurti always mentions in his talks.Awareness is to to see that self is trapped and is a slave to becoming and in that lies the meaning of living .To go beyond the resentment of problems of daily life is a transformational change difficult to achieve.Like the protaganist its a long and arduos journey of self destruction before one finds that each day can be a different day. Each individual has to strike his chord of freedom to his life.Then its no more a groundhog day.

If only... Lorenz Effect and Destiny

"If only one thing had happened differently: if that shoelace hadn't broken; or that delivery truck had moved moments earlier; or that package had been wrapped and ready, because the girl hadn't broken up with her boyfriend; or that man had set his alarm and got up five minutes earlier; or that taxi driver hadn't stopped for a cup of coffee; or that woman had remembered her coat, and got into an earlier cab, Daisy and her friend would've crossed the street, and the taxi would've driven by. But life being what it is — a series of intersecting lives and incidents, out of anyone's control — that taxi did not go by, and that driver was momentarily distracted, and that taxi hit Daisy, and her leg was crushed." Brad Pitt in Benjamin Button

Would the destiny of Daisy been different if only ....? Life is a criss crossing conundrum as if a part of a holistic world wide web.Touch any part of the web and the entire web reverberates.Thats why they say that a a change in butterfly fluttering in rain forest can have a significant change in climate elsewhere.No exxageration, it is called as the Lorenz Effect.Lets see what wikipedia says:
The butterfly effect is a phrase that encapsulates the more technical notion of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory. Small variations of the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system. This is sometimes presented as esoteric behavior, but can be exhibited by very simple systems: for example, a ball placed at the crest of a hill might roll into any of several valleys depending on slight differences in initial position.The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in a certain location. The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale alterations of events. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings, the trajectory of the system might have been vastly different. While the butterfly does not cause the tornado, the flap of its wings is an essential part of the initial conditions resulting in a tornado.

Comong back to Benjamin Button would Daisy`s destiny been different if there was a small change in initial condition? How would our personal destiny changed if only ... small insignificant things in the past had panned out differently? A very interesting question with no definite answer as we are in the realm of speculative scenario in the world of uncertanity.However one can guess.Life can be assumed to have a varied set of circumstantial probabilities.Each scenario will result into a different outcome for sure.The external variation can be huge but does it really matter? For instance under a particular scenario the person happens to be a successful surgeon, falls in love with his collegue who eventually is unfaithful to him and he eventually messes up on a surgery with a huge suit against him.If only things were different and lets assume he meets with an accident whilst going for his exams and therefore he would not have become a surgeon and instead would have become realtor with no steady income. Lets assume he lives under the burden of regret of not being able to pursue surgery.He marries a very understanding wife who supports him enough to salvage his self esteem and eventually he wins a huge lottery which enables himto pursue flying which was his passion .In both the scenario lady luck is playing a part in case one by averting an accident to enable him to be a surgeon and in another case by bestowing a gamble winning.The pros and cons of the alternate scenario are never known to us even though as humans we are wired to beieve the brighter side of a hypothethical situation and highlight the poorer side of existing situation.Surgeon or failed realtor are two of the many probabilities that are embedded on the path of life .Ultimately how you weave the tapestry of life under a given situation is all matters.What you make out of given circumstances and live according to that reality is destiny.In that understanding is the richness of life.In that understanding lies contentment.Live your life of dream in a continuum and not in only if scenario because only if is probable and hence unreal.What is is reality and certainty.Meaning of life is in its present reality and not in alternate probability.
In the hilarious movie Bedazzled devil comes in the form of seductress Liz Hurley and gives seven wishes to the protagonaist who is a loser in life.He signs a contract with devil to trade his soul for his seven wishes.He gets what he wants alongwith situation he doesnot want inall the seven scenarios. In the end he begs the devil to release him from his contract and finally discovers his true self and wins his self esteem in his present circumstances.

In the end it is zero sum for what alters reality for one favourably may alter unfavourably for someone else or still further may alter reality in further future in an entirely different manner to the same person. Carrying the speculative scenario further if only the shoelace was not broken Daisy would have not met with accident .Benjamin would not have come to see her and they wouldnot have had a wonderful daughter. Only if ........