what is mind

what is mind , let us try to understand together. The body is made up of food. The brain is a part of body which can be considered as CPU. When we were child the society as a whole tried to train our brain with the help of our sense organs.You must have seen that when the child is said to say the letter "A" he does not immediately repeat "A". It takes time. We should know what happens in the brain during this training? When we say A a type of sound is produced which hits the diaphram of the ear. Doe to this hit of the sound an impulse is created behind the diaphram which travels to the brain via optic nerve. The cells in the brain automatically tries to adjust/train itself with the sound and then tries to co-ordinate with those nerves which go to vocal chord. Once this synchronisation happens the child speaks "A". These alphabets are nothing but concepts to represent those sounds. Similar is the case with other sense organs also. You could see there is no question of storage of data as such which is understood in common paralance. The same technique is being employed in robotics(artificial intelligence). So when we say mind is sum total of data, is it not wrong? In this sense U.G. say "MIND IS A MYTH". The brain cannot function on its own as far as interaction and thinking is concerned unless it is prompted by outer stimuli which may be inside the body. That is why there cannot be any action. All are reactions.

Why we don't want our children to become so called sage/saint/rishi/guru/mahatma ?

Does anybody engage himself in the act of intercourse having the desire that the baby is going to be conceived ? He was engaged in enjoying sex and the child got conceived without the partners knowledge. It was a happening. The conceivability was not in anybody's control. The child comes out of the womb on its own i.e. it happens. The growing up phenomenon is also a happening.

Does anybody want his/her child to become so called sage/saint/guru/spiritual master etc. after the child comes to young age ? Answer is simply no. It means nobody has desire to see his sibling as sage/saint/guru albeit we are showing so much respect for this class. Why not we want that our siblings should be like them. On the one hand we are vying to become like them and on the other hand we never want/try to push/encourage our children in that direction. There appears to be some conflicts inside us. This requires some deep thinking.

Who are the persons who are sitting on all scriptures and interpreting them

The society is a big machine. All the persons engaged in various fields in this world are its parts necessary to run this machine. The important parts which are necessary to run this machine are farmers, labourers, office goers , doctors, engineers, lawyers, Govt. officials, businessman, criminals(otherwise what police will do), etc. They are just like vitamins, minerals, glucose, etc. which are absorbed as and when required and are necessary to run the machine called body.

The children are born are raw materials (food) for the society ( going to be absorbed as important parts when ready). Every child's parents want to see their siblings to be set as necessary part required to run the society after they grow up. Nobody wants their siblings to see as priest/baba/mahatma/guru/master or criminals.

After all the vitamins and other materials necessary to run the machine are absorbed by the society , the leftovers / undigested may still contain some amount of intelligence(which remained to be undigested). These intelligent people opt for crime where maximum intelligence is required.

And the final leftover which is of no use to the society, turn themselves towards God's area as no intelligent person are interested initially in this area. These unintelligent leftovers start interpreting Gita, Ramayan, Upanishads, etc.There are some exceptions to this thinking.

In this process they (Baba/Sadhu/Dahrmatma/Guru..etc.) get maximum attention which is never available in any other field of society albeit everybody is hankering for that only through various means including so called spiritualism. However, the maximum ego satisfaction is available in the God's area as all other including politicians, criminals, scientists, so called educated persons etc. come to them to seek their blessings.

These people who should have not been in picture at all, are sitting on the top in the name of God. Hence, what can be expected from them? Their interpretation is bound to be misinterpretation leading to solidifying the feeling of separateness which is already present in us. This is why division/differences in the society.

We can very well live/survive without the concept of God in any form. But the concept of God cannot exists without us.This is the hard truth which cannot be digested by those person who are followers of the persons mentioned above.

I am not saying whether God exists or not.

Better it would have been that the scientists being the most intelligent among all the lots should have interpreted the scriptures which would have been objective interpretation without bringing belief and faith into picture. Then society would have been a different one.

My above understanding does not apply to all the priest/guru/mahatma etc.

How to know about the progress made towards Self-Realisation

There is a very simple scientific method to know whether you are going in the right direction or not.

1. Have a clear concepts of the words "Mana(Mind) , Vachana(words spoken) and Karma(Action done).

2. Determine (a) the quantum of differences between "Mana and Vachana" and then "Vachana and Karma" in relation to a single thought which is getting converted into action and (b) the quantum of bodily relaxation you feel.

3. Find out the reasons for differences try to understand them. Don't try to get rid of them.

4. Go ahead with any method of so called self-realisation that you have chosen.

5. After sometime traveling on the path of your choice again reassess (a) the quantum of differences between "Mana and Vachana" and then "Vachana and Karma" in relation to a single thought which is getting converted into action and (b) the quantum of bodily relaxation

6. If you find that the quantum of quantum of differences between "Mana and Vachana" and then "Vachana and Karma" has gone down compared to previous data and relaxation has increased then "understand that you are on the right path".

7. The rate of decrease in difference depends upon the path chosen and your mental state(rigidity,belief,faith,etc.).

8. Hence you should find out the correct path suitable for you by hit and trial method.

9. The only condition attached is that the progress noted by you by the process mentioned above, must be getting reflected through your behaviour with animate and inanimate things and such behaviour must be reported by others in and around you.

10. When finally the mana (mind), vachana (words) and karma (action) come into (show) a state of full synchronisation with each other you(ego) will be no more there to suggest you that now you are a realised person. You will be be living in that sate without having knowledge of that state. You will just become a mirror reflecting whatever comes in front of you. Total acceptance of whatever is will be reflected through you. Then you are not that what you think about you at present.

Desires

1. Non of the desires is ours.

2. They are just subtle expressions ( in the form of reactions) of life expressed in response to outer/inner circumstances surrounding it.

3. They are simply the interpretations of the impulses produced in the body in response to circumstances (actions) surrounding it and they arise on their own and subside/vanish on their own.

4. Their sustainability/nuisance depends on our fighting (resistance/trying to control) with them. On sustaining/continuing they consume our vital energy till they continue.

4. If we can remain neutral to their arousal they vanish on their own without causing any harm(without consuming our energy) and their effects fade away within no time.

5. Among all desires the desire/thought "TO BE KNOWN" can be labeled as mother of all non-essential desires/thoughts.

6. Just understanding them is enough.

Quotes

Breaking Through Gravity

A human being trying to catalyze the emergence of a higher level of consciousness is like a rocket ship trying to break through the gravity of the Earth's atmosphere. The gravity that we are endeavoring to release ourselves from is the historical weight of our conditioning, both personal and cultural. If we can generate enough vertical momentum to propel us beyond the boundaries of who we have been, we will find ourselves in uncharted territory.

~ Andrew Cohen

The Red Rose and the Cactus

One beautiful spring day a red rose blossomed in a forest. Many kinds of trees and plants grew there. As the rose looked around, a pine tree nearby said, What a beautiful flower. I wish I was that lovely. Another tree said, Dear pine, do not be sad, we can not have everything.

The rose turned its head and remarked, It seems that I am the most beautiful plant in this forest. A sunflower raised its yellow head and asked, Why do you say that In this forest there are many beautiful plants. You are just one of them. The red rose replied, I see everyone looking at me and admiring me. Then the rose looked at a cactus and said, Look at that ugly plant full of thorns! The pine tree said, Red rose, what kind of talk is this Who can say what beauty is You have thorns too.

The proud red rose looked angrily at the pine and said, I thought you had good taste! You do not know what beauty is at all. You can not compare my thorns to that of the cactus.

What a proud flower, thought the trees. The rose tried to move its roots away from the cactus, but it could not move. As the days passed, the red rose would look at the cactus and say insulting things, like This plant is useless How sorry I am to be his neighbor.

The cactus never got upset and he even tried to advise the rose, saying, We weren't created without a purpose. Spring passed, and the weather became very warm. Life became difficult in the forest, as the plants and animals needed water and no rain fell. The red rose began to wilt. One day the rose saw sparrows stick their beaks into the cactus and then fly away, refreshed. This was puzzling, and the red rose asked the pine tree what the birds were doing. The pine tree explained that the birds got water from the cactus. Does it not hurt when they make holes asked the rose.

Yes, but the cactus does not like to see any birds suffer, replied the pine. The rose opened its eyes in wonder and said, The cactus has water Yes you can also drink from it. The sparrow can bring water to you if you ask the cactus for help.

The red rose felt too ashamed of its past words and behavior to ask for water from the cactus, but then it finally did ask the cactus for help. The cactus kindly agreed and the birds filled their beaks with water and watered the rose's roots. Thus the rose learned a lesson and never judged anyone by their appearance again.

Quotes

Unless you "know"( knowledge matching with your action effortlessly) "what you are not", everything else has no meaning.

Birth,growth,breathing,sleep,digestion,blood circulation, etc. and finally death. This is the whole film of all expressions of life including humans. None of these things which is vital for the life to express itself, is in anyone's hand. Everything is happening on its own effortlessly. It means every expression is helpless in a sense. Humans are also as helpless as other forms of life but because of perceptions of imaginary instrument called 'mind' and accordingly go on trying to become something other than what he/she is.

There's no Buddha, no living beings

As I see it, there's no Buddha, no living beings, no long ago, no now. If you want to get it, you've already got it -it's not something that requires time. There's no religious practice, no enlightenment, no getting anything, no missing out on anything. At no time is there any other Dharma superior to this. If anyone claims there is a Dharma superior to this, I say it must be a dream, a phantom. All I have to say to you is simply this.

~Lin Chi~

Is Hell Exothermic?

Is Hell Exothermic?

The following is supposedly an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following: First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.

The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being that is why while night she was soughting "Oh God" whole night yesterday night.

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY A

Religion and Spirituality - what differentiates Religion from Spirituality?

Religion and Spirituality - what differentiates Religion from Spirituality?

Religion is "absolute truth of life" of the physical manifested world. It is Religion and not Spirituality which forms the basis of the present society we live in. In the present the needs for following a Religion being at its minimum... it is easy to follow any Religion. Anyone... even a layman can follow any Religion but not Spirituality?

What vastly differentiates Religion and Spirituality? Religion... if it forms the core of the physical manifested world... it is the Spirituality (the truth of our Soul within) which upholds the values in the society. Without Spirituality the physical manifested world cannot sustain for long but in the absence of religion... the society can survive on its own.

It is Spirituality (the truth of our real self... our Soul within) which forms the core of the cosmic world. The physical manifested world is a reality in terms of the senses (which guide every human being on its earthly journey). In the cosmic world... our physical manifested world does not hold good for there is nothing solid in the Cosmos. Everything in the Cosmos is made up of the basic building block of the Cosmos which comprise of atoms and molecules alone.

Religion is meant for passing of the physical manifested life in a meaningful manner. Unable to understand its natural state humanity has built for itself various religious centers all over the globe. These religious centers whether they are a mosque, temple or a church... provide a succor to the ever ailing society. They quench the thirst of an average human being... one who does not have time or the resources to contemplate directly on his Natural State.

Indulgence in Spirituality is not meant for the average human being. To be able to fathom the depths of the Scriptures of the various religions of the world (the core truths of Spirituality)... one needs to dive deep into the pearls of wisdom contained in the various sacred Scriptures of the world. Spirituality is totally oblivious of a religion. In the field of Spirituality one need not go to a mosque, temple or a church in search of his Natural State. It is contemplation and only contemplation which shall lead one to his Natural State.

Spirituality (contrary to religion) is all about the spirit existing within every human being neigh every living being (Jiva as we call it in Hinduism). It is truth of every life prevailing on Mother Earth. It is the real self of us which exists within every living being since the birth of that body in the form of an individual soul. Spirituality and Religion are the two fundamentals of life which every living being is required to follow simultaneously.

One can live without Religion but not without Spirituality for Spirituality forms the core of very existence of every living being. It is the spirit within every human being that we exist as a physical form on Mother Earth. We may or may not indulge in understanding Spirituality or a Religion but inherently every living being pursues the path of Spirituality in every manifestation. Spirituality is that fundamental of life which cannot be ignored by one.

To be able to understand the basics of the Spirituality (not religion) one needs to understand the underlying meaning of the various sacred Scriptures existing on Mother Earth. Whatever our religious masters teach us on the physical plane may not be a truthful representation of whatever is contained in the sacred Scriptures. Many commentaries may exist related to a particular sacred Scripture but all may not be correct or rightly represent the facts contained therein.

To be able to interpret the sacred Scriptures correctly one needs to understand the inner meaning of the core teachings contained therein. Spirituality in other words can only be best understood from a realized master. Only those who have reached the level of Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed can deliver the humanity of its ills.

On the contrary going to a temple, mosque or a church can provide temporary succor to the ailing humanity but it is only Spirituality which can provide a permanent relief. Religion provides relief in day-to-day life but Spirituality liberates one forever from the cycle of birth and death. Religion is primarily a following of an enlightened master... it is only the correct interpretation of his teachings that one can follow spirituality to its logical end.

Buddhism Religion relates to the teachings of Gautama Buddha. The Islamic Religion is based on the teachings of Prophet Mohammed. Jainism (which can not be rightly called as a Religion but a way of life) is based on the collective teachings of the various Tirthankars (enlightened souls). Similarly Christianity is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Following the teachings of Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed... One can definitely reach the higher portals of Religion but to become one like Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed one needs to understand the core teachings of the realized masters themselves in a totally unadulterated form.

In a nutshell, if we desire to understand the fundamentals of life itself and reach the end of the cosmic journey... we need to understand Spirituality in totality. And on the contrary if we desire to live the present physical manifested life in the best manner possible then following the dictates of Religion alone would suffice.

The Universe Is Interested in You

The Universe Is Interested in You

The universe is more interested in you than you are in it. Why?

Because the universe is trying to evolve, at the level of consciousness, and consciousness can only develop through you.

Human beings are the vehicles through which consciousness can take the next step.

From this perspective, we are merely pawns in a much larger process. Spiritual awakening is not about you or me—it's about the evolution of the process itself.

Individuals who have been culturally conditioned to see the world through a very small and personal lens find that very hard to appreciate.

But as you begin to awaken, you will start to see your own experience from the perspective of evolution itself.

And you will begin to understand that when you become deeply interested in the evolution of consciousness and culture, the universe becomes interested in you!

A potential partner in the evolutionary process appears, in the form of you.

Don't fight with Desires

It is said that a desire arose in God and the creation instantly happened.Then a desire arose in Him to experience the creation. For experiencing the creation a proper instrument is required , but it was lacking with Him. Again a desire arose in Him for instrument and various instruments in different forms appeared into the creation. After evaluation of all He found the human instrument(body) best for experiencing the creation. In this human body different types/forms of desires go on appearing (happening) without any effort just like the desires which arose in God. And with the help of these desires the God is experiencing the creations. If the God could not control his desires then how we can ? Hence don't fight(trying to control) with them. It is waste of energy. Just understand them ( only after they have come into picture) . That is all. They will not obstruct the natural flow of life / consciousness.