The path to enlightenment
Last week-end, the director of Banaras, Pankuj Parashar was invited to a show of the film. At the end of the screening the audience gave a standing ovation. And that would probably be expected as common courtesy but what happened next ,really embarassed Mr Prashar. Two ladies from the audience approached him and actually touched his feet.... ....
There was also an interesting question raised by one viewer which is what I would like to discuss here.
Q..Is the path to enlightenment always so painful? ( An obvious reference to what happens in the movie)
"Attachment" is said to be the biggest hurdle to attainment. Attachment to wealth, stature, success, siblings, father, mother, spouse, children, home, vehicle, pets, plants and life. There are prized possessions to hang on to. There is so much comfort in clinging on to them.
Breaking away is never going to be easy. All our sensory systems are programmed to feel pain even at the thought of separation. Hence we feel stuck.
Stuck, because we seem incapable of even being aware of the world around us. This is the dilemna Soham faced when he asks Babaji if Shwetambari was his destiny. Once Babaji explains that love can not be touched or known it could only be experienced, Soham goes ahead and expresses his feelings to Swetambari.
He now realises that her love is not physical. It has no limitations. His physical desire for Shwetambari is overcome by his spiritual quest to completely unify with her soul.
Enlightement is not separation. Its true unification. Its attaining a state of complete awareness and unity with everything.
Some pain in the path of attainment, therefore, seems a small price to pay : )
posted by Unknown @ Tuesday, May 02, 2006
5 Comments:
sir , can you please elaborate on the deliema soham faces? i have not completely understood.
and what does he realise?
First let state that my knowledge which I communiace here is my own which I acquired by studying, thinking and investigating. These are not from any book or scripture.
In diaries of Krishamurthy there is clear reference to some pain he used to experience followed by benediction. Osho too had an experience which could be termed as enlightenment. Soham's experience is closer to these men.
On the otherhand self realisation can occur to any one at any time.It's , however as the result of self investigation. The way you are all doing now:) The moment one can understand the nature of one's being, it can happen in a flash.
Krishnamurthy often referred to this.
hello Sir,
I've been inspired by swana's & meeta's discussion about banaras to put forward a question to you... I asked few more people & nobody gave me an answer... may be they felt I'm not on that level yet to understand (which is possible!!)... could you please kindly express your thoughts in the simplest possible way...
if 'Aham Brahmasmi' (I am Brahman) is true for everyone, then why are we affected by Maya... if we are 'Him' then how can The Creator be affected by His own Creation... why did He/we cause this veil or separation at all...?
Swana,
I am trying to put some thoughts together based on the thread that you have started.
Consider this. You are out there on a train passing thru' some exquisite scenery. As you look out of the window and admire the view, for a 'moment' you lose yourself in your surroundings, (I am sure we all have experienced this!). Now if you think back on that 'moment', what had really happened? The sense of time, space and other faculties had completely disappeared. For that moment, 'you' and you alone existed (together with your environment) Then, all of a sudden this process is broken and you get back to the real world. Hey, get up! The station is here.
The 'moment' that you 'lost yourself' was also a moment of 'self realisation'. You were one with yourself. This happens in our daily lives if we are observant and sensitive to our environment. Just as 'Jaddu' (JK) was.
In this case there was an object ('scenery') which was spotted by your sensory system and once you got immersed into it, the sensory system was no longer there.
There are others who have developed meditative techniques which seek to shut down the sensory system and then you “lose” your ego.
In both cases (with or without an object) one has to lose oneself. Does this make sense?
'Khaak parwane se aati hai yeh paigam;
zindagi hai game dilbar pe fana ho jaana'
(not very good at translations, but the above says that there is a message that comes from the remains of the moth that burnt itself in the fire. The message is that life is all about sacrificing yourself for the one you love (the object of desire))
Meditation/Concentration/love are all ‘processes’. Self Realisation is a ‘state’. Deepti had asked, ‘if aham brahamasmi is true…..’. Aham Brahamasmi is not true. Not in the current state that we are. So notice, there is a difference here. The difference of the part and the whole. People who say ‘Aham Brahamasmi’ or ‘Tatwam Asi’ or ‘Anahalak’ are truly accomplished people who have attained that state where they can make that claim.
‘Hat gaya parda chik ka darmayan se hamare,
Ya tu meri tasveer hai, ya main teri tasveer hoon.’
Fair to say, therefore that not all of us can make this claim (at our current states).
‘Mohabbat ke liye kuch khaas dil hi maksood hote hain,
Ye who nagma hai jo har saaz pe gaaya nahin jaata’
This, incidentally is also enlightenment. Enlightened beings are those who remain in a permanent state of Self Realisation.
When Soham got enlightened he realized that he was one with Shwetambri and every other being. There was no difference. Her joys, pain, sorrows were all his and that his why he cried momentarily when he said his bye to her.
Nice! Where you get this guestbook? I want the same script.. Awesome content. thankyou.
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