Transcending the illusion of the opposites

According to J. Krishnamurti, man vascillates between the opposites, but it is only by deeply understanding the illusion of the opposites that we can be free of its limitations and encumbrances. Only then is the mind really free and attentive to the real. The movement is then from the real to the real, not from the known to the known. In the world of opposites, thoughtlessness is inevitable, since the never-ending tussle between the opposites wears the mind down. This perpetuates habit and habitual patterns of thinking, and the mindlessness of habit can clearly not put an end to fundamental problems. Craving, he says, is at the root of this and hence, that also needs to be understood if the development of this illusion is to be understood and transcended. This brings to fore the central question which many of us, not being experts in the teachings of K, would like to ask - what do we mean by the illusion of opposites and how can we understand it deeply and transcend it? The natural question arises from the empirical observation of the extremes, of course. We see some people being tall while others are short. Weather outside is sometimes hot and sometimes cold. The mind is at times happy and sometimes unhappy. Social systems offer a full menu of choices from radical communism to extreme capitalism or individualism. We perceive goodness in the world at times, but perceive evil at times too. Then what is the "illusion" here? Perhaps choices can be made, but what is meant by transcending the opposites? Is this all purely a description of higher states of consciousness and awareness in which these differences seem immaterial? If so, then is this discussion of any help at all to those who have not experienced that higher state of consciousness? 

It turns out that K has talked about this illusion and the way to tackle it in many places. Just search for his views on "opposites" on the internet and see some of the shorter and longer publications which come up. It is not merely a description of an advanced state which is beyond mankind and hence can only serve to further mystify the already confused mind. K has strived, in fact, to soften the impact of the emotional excitement, bewilderment and disorientation people may feel when such "unattainable" states are described to them. For the most part, he avoids pushing people into confusions which can cause agony. His term "illusion" is rather clearly defined and his methods are not totally outside the capabilities of ordinary humans. As in most places, K is not here talking about physical differences in people, technological memory (like how to drive a car), or just the fact of weather-changes having some effect. It is in the psychological domain that he wants us to follow his words. Faced with the fact of anger, greed, doubt, pleasure, attraction to food or clothing, repulsion towards the other social system, or any other similar psychological reality, man "creates" its opposite instantly and habitually starts a war against the basic reality of the moment. Forcing the mind into opposite patterns, expects the suppression of the initial fact to "cure" him and his society. Or, being averse to the idea of suppression, makes a habit of magnifying the initial problem by expressing too much. The conflict between good an evil which results is never-ending and serves no purpose other than to wear people down. Devoid of strength, the mind goes a step deeper into habitual patterns which require no thought. Carelessness and further insensitivity then further enhance the internal conflict and create more misery for the mind, which had created the opposite side hoping that the opposite would cure him of the initial malady and misery. 

This does not mean to suggest that goodness, kindness, calmness or peace are devoid of substance or that they are not part of the same reality which we call ourselves or the world. Only that the peace which was instantly created by mind as a mere habitual response based on tradition and memory was no more than a mental concoction, and hence merely an illusion. Maybe clever, but not in touch with facts and not real. Hence, creating further misery, as per the process outlined above, instead of delivering man from the misery. The entire process of knowledge and accumulated memory participates in this process and ends up being a barrier to awareness of what is, which was not the intention. Hence the need to deeply understand what these opposites truly are, how we create them and why the counterfactual design only breeds dullness (lack of awareness). 

Again, if every reaction is a reflex based on memory, how can we ever solve the problem of anger or evil within ourselves? Is K saying that evil is permanent? No, according to K, observing is the ultimate action in this part of psychology. Observing something puts an end to the thing - memory does not have to then periodically chew the cud regarding the event. Facing the fact choicelessly, the mind sees anger, boredom, habit, sensation and all related processes clearly as they are. The flame of awareness burns or dissolves the initial fact, so memory does not have to grapple with it for eternity. The intention to dig, by itself, does not bring out water from the depths of the earth. We also need the tools to be sharp. Similarly, here, the awareness needs to be without condemnation, justification or judgment. Because all of these processes of memory merely add to the internal conflict and tire the person out. That perpetuates carelessness and brutality. That perpetrates the thinker as separate from thoughts, which is another conflict. Gentle awareness, on the other hand, without pushing for one result or the other, without condemnation or justification, is conducive to understanding the intricate details of the processes of the mind which creates these "illusions", and is the way to the discovery of reality. Of course, the words "the way" indicate a set path and may promote beliefs once again, which is against the intentions of the teachers, but if understood simply, then they can convey the right impressions too. Like land left fallow after a harvest, this choiceless awareness also rejuvenates the mind which is otherwise injured by the constant war of the opposites.

The judging and evaluating mind will want to know whether Patanjali is wrong in mentioning the use of contrary thought as a way to deal with negative impulses (violence, envy, laziness, etc.). Firstly, let's be clear that often, the measuring mind is just an outcome of the desire to dominate a conversation. It seems necessary while the excitement prevails and then feels like a dissipation of energy. Inquiry starting from there may mislead more than help. Then again, there are measurements which even the more serious enquirers may want to consider exploring, so that they may understand. From that perspective, it may be good to consider the fact that Patanjali's recommended use of contrarian thought is as a conscious method, within a larger, integrated system. Done gently and consciously, the contrarian thinking will not make the practitioner lose awareness of the fact of the negative impulses being present. It would promote conscious awareness of all aspects of the mind, which is K's purpose and method. Done forcefully, without awareness of the method as a method, it may create all the illusions of duality that K is arduously trying to take us away from. 

Yet another interesting fact is that Patanjali also differentiates between methods which can help mitigate grosser disturbances and those which can go beyond and lead to complete dissolution of the qualities and aspects of ignorance. Meditation reduces the grosser manifestations of the great ignorance. For further progress, repeated meditation, and the impressions of freedom left on the heart by repeated "successes" in overcoming different limitations via meditation are necessary. Meditation is still perhaps necessary, but it is not sure whether it is sufficient. Or, perhaps it is better to say that meditation on limited objects or forms is not sufficient. Either way, the road to final dissolution is not half as easy to explain as the road to the intermediate successes. At least for the present author right now. K has himself said that truth is a pathless land. Therefore, when pitting the Patanjali view on contrarian thought against this teaching of K, let us keep in mind that Patanjaliji himself was often providing routes to the interim successes - on which, the advanced yogi would have to build further to get to nirbeeja samadhis and full absorption. 

And even after the practical, less mystified, workable part of the teaching has been understood, it is not clear how many of us can even practice this for more than an hour a month or an hour a year! This is why K always reminds us that the word is a symbol, but the word (or the name) is not the thing. It is a pointer, but to know what it points to, we have to walk. The ending of duality, time and the petty thinker may actually mean much more than what we have discussed today - but in speculating too much on the unknown, we perpetrate the processes of duality by hating the simpler aspects of the teaching as the "lower" aspects, which are so less exciting relative to the unknown "higher" aspects. Gently recognizing that suffering as a concoction of the mind, we can proceed to the next step.

Sadanand Tutakne

"Of Mystics and Mistakes" - further revelations by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

First of all, welcome friends to another edition of the spiritual discussions. Other than providing information based on available literature, these sessions satisfy curiosity, provide a channel for "right effort", and not the least - provide us with some time to reflect on what is probably the most sought after question of human life. Naturally, they are likely to leave us with a sense of grandeur, and that's intended too - let's keep in mind that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". However, entertainment is not the sole purpose either. Analogous to entertainment which contains a social message, these discussions also have a higher target. How far that higher purpose is served here may depend upon our attitude and aptitude, but it is hoped that a cheerful and entertaining tone will help all participants gather something from the discussion. For more serious commentary, readers are advised to take the help of any fully self-realized saint close to their heart. 

"Of Mystics and Mistakes" is a relatively recent book of conversations with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a contemporary yogi who needs no introduction to this blog. A "questioner" puts a question, and Sadhguru responds. In the process, the reader is brought into awareness of many most marvelous facts about life and the world. As the first section of the book explains, perception limited to the five sense organs may be acceptable for survival, but proves to be a mistake in the higher order of things, when we step out of this excessive concern with survival and improving further and further on the criterion of survival. The mystics, on the other hand, who have opened themselves to perceptions beyond just the five senses, can strive to get out of the web of this erroneous view. No wonder then, that organizations started by advanced yogis often pursue the explicitly stated purpose of bringing man to a direct realization of these higher-dimensional realities. With advanced perception, some "superhuman" possibilities may also come within the realm of the possible - like Swami Vivekananda who once held a medical book in German in his hand for an hour and could then reproduce any page of it to the doctor he was speaking to. Of course, there is a difference between the development of these powers and spirituality itself, just as there is a difference between pure science and technology (which concerns itself mainly with utilitarian applications). So occult (and occult powers) are mostly like a utilitarian application of some dimensions of reality which people may not ordinarily know of and hence occult is different from the pure science of spirituality, which is what Sadhguru is looking to develop. The main impediment for most people who want to enhance their perception is the chattering mind - i.e., chattering thought and emotions. This includes thoughts to "stop the mind", etc. too, which make the mental process more important than it actually is. Sadhguru asks whether anyone with spiritual aspirations worries about stopping their heart when they come to a spiritual discourse! So instead of cultivating "impossible" attitudes like trying to stop the mind, practitioners may do better to develop the "saakshi" (witness) mind, which can be a simple witness to all thoughts and emotions which arise and fall within the mind. This also brings up the question of how to decide on who is a good guru, given all the trickery in the world. Sadhguru agrees that people should not blindly fall for things and then end up hurt. They should choose very carefully. However, he adds that maybe one way to differentiate the real teachers from the rest is to observe what they demand - if they demand merely money or property, they are probably not worth it; you should only go to places where they demand your life!

The typical yogic idea of focusing on one thing is very helpful. Sadhguru humorously advises that even if you could play the game of being annoyed or angry for all the time, you would reach there. The problem is that we cannot do anything wholeheartedly and stay on it without being distracted. In that sense, "multi-tasking" does not help. The reader may recall that focused attention is the central idea in Patanjali's description of meditation too, although even the act of meditation is later discussed as an "external practice" for nirbeeeja samadhi (seedless samadhi), although it is an integral part of the eight-fold yoga to attain sabeeja samadhi (samadhi with the seed of thought or other object of attention). While thought and emotion are to be kept stable, the rest, he says, must be allowed to run wild, to make it possible for the human form to "break the bubble" and perceive something beyond the ordinary sense-mind. The spiritual process is about developing the intensity required to break this limitation of ordinary consciousness. This, by the way, also includes the "intention of being good and ethical". More evil has been done in this world by people who claim to have been driven by "good intentions", say Sahdguru. Not having the ability to perceive anything beyond themselves, these people had strong convictions and ended up doing horrible things. In this sense, the spiritual process is a bit supra-logical. You cannot always be caught in your own logic - you need to perceive more than that. The process is also not about mastering one particular element or process with the end-result of using it for survival. Mastery over the elements - whether levitation or some other power which is not yet available to common people via technology - is another circus, which Sadhguru says he has wasted two lives working on and is not the goal of spiritual processes. Rather, surrender may be called more the aim here. The overwhelming detail of life makes people feel that mastery over some aspect of nature or physical reality is the ultimate objective. However, like the elaborate dresses of some courtesans in the olden days - which could all be taken off by a single pin which only the courtesan herself knew of - nature's millions of details also turn around a single key, which is the self. Hence, the manner in which individuals take and deal with the developments of surrounding nature are more important that levitation or walking on water. He again laughingly adds that if by walking miles and miles on water, we forgot to walk on land, then we would need to again teach ourselves how to walk on land! This, of course, does not mean that stories about people with marvelous powers are false. Sadhguru has himself seen and known of different yogis with different kinds of powers. Only that he has had enough of it and that mastery of that kind (over one aspect of nature or the other) is not his goal with his disciples. The goal is to help make people truly perceive beyond ordinary life, and with that satisfy the deepest urge (and suffering) in mankind to achieve greater and 

greater degrees of satisfaction. If we could remain "untouched" by life - just as children are - right up to the end of our lives, then the goal would be met. 

This does not, however, mean that Sadhguru would like children to be initiated early into deep meditation, etc. Rather, he insists that closed-eye meditations and perception of higher dimensions of life should not come too early in life, because in the early part of life, the "physical will" in the body is not well-developed. Knowledge of higher dimensions with this base leads to the life force exiting the body early. While some yogis who started perceiving early lived more complete and richer lives that people could imagine, yet, it is a fact that they also left the world much earlier, for one reason or another. It is only after the age of 14 years that the physical will of the body becomes strong, says Sadhguru. Paraashar took his son Veda Vyaasa as a disciple early in life because of Vyaasa's insistence, but he ensured that Vyasa was trained in a lot of physical yogic exercises, so that the physical element in the body would have a strong and healthy will. It is due to this that Vyaasa had his long life, says Sadhguru - which is estimated to be over 340 years by some people. Otherwise, like with Adi Shankaracharya and Swami Vivekananda, a reason to exit early from the physical is easy to find for the child-yogis. There are other such subtle processes working in nature which Sadhguru accepts and explains about in the conversations. One is about the influence of the moon and its cycles. Like the tides in oceans, some physical and subtle processes in man are also related to the cycles of the moon, he says. The full-moon night, for example, is typically soothing and conducive to deeper and peaceful meditations, while the no-moon night is a night when energies are running wild. Therefore, for some kinds of hard penances, he says, the availability of that energy on the no-moon night is helpful. In the supremely famous "dhyaanalinga" temple constructed by Sahdguru, the pancha bhuta araadhanaa (for purification of the five basic elements) is held on the no-moon day. Sadhguru says that the way the five elements are integrated within a person determines many things like the health of the person. With better integration, health and other benefits follow directly and this is the reason for this particular puja. Of course, the cleansing of the five elements is not just for health - it is also a very fundamental and important process in many forms of yoga and is considered by many to be essential for spiritual development. As for how Sadhguru first experienced the higher dimension, Sadhguru mentions what he has on many TV interviews and in other books. Once he rode up to Chamundi hill on his motorcycle and sat there - as was popular amongst youth in those days. Suddenly, as he was just looking, for the first time in his life, everything around him became a part of himself and was extremely alive. The pure bliss of that state was indescribable. He thought he had stayed in that state for only 15 or 20 minutes, but when he looked at his watch, four and a half hours had passed. Similar experiences happened many times after that too, he says, but this was the first experience which truly showed him a unity between what he had until then perceived as "me" and "you" or subject and object. 

With huge scientific and technoloical advances over the past 150 years, we now often see conclusions emerging from science which tell the same story as older yogic teachings or legends which hide deeper meanings within an outer shell of symbolism. Science is now exploring seriously whether there were multiple big bangs instead of one. This is exactly what is conveyed in old tales of Shiva roaring in anger when "Shakti wakes him up" and then rising from his slumber. Shiva roared multiple times. The yogis have always seen the human body as a microcosm which has an imprint of the external cosmos in it. This body has 112 physical chakras or junction points where life energy is coupled with the body. Another two chakras are non-physical, he says. From the body, we know that Shiva can only roar 112 times. Science says 84 of these roars (big bangs) have already happened. What happens after the 112th bang is difficult to describe - it may be in a completely non-physical dimension. Science also suggests that the first form of manifest energy (after the big bang or big bangs) must have been ellipsoidal in nature. Yoga has always maintained the deepest respect for the ellipsoidal form - which is the shape of shiva lingas, which have been misinterpreted by some as being phallic symbols. So will the ultimate form of energy prior to its dissolution into the non-physical be ellipsoidal in form. Oscilloscopes can show the "form" of sound waves - what kind of wave it leads to, the amplitude, frequency, etc. Vedic tradition (and similarly many other ancient traditions) has always described sound and vibration as one of the earliest manifestations, from which all else has manifested. The reader will recall that even science is now coming to the theory that the most basic parts of creation are "conscious" thrusts of energy - which reminds us of the old teaching that the Universal One, who is pure consciousness, has become both matter and consciousness within matter (purusha and prakriti both arise from the same ever conscious One). This knowledge of the subtler dimensions of reality was also used for various purposes by the makers of temples in ancient India. Sadhguru says that before the bhakti (devotion) movement changed the nature of temples completely, temples in India were centres of energy which also served some purpose in ordinary life. Devotees could go to particular temples and receive the energy required for progress on some dimension of life or the other. The dhyaanalinga temple constructed by Sadhguru uses this ancient science - only that the dhyaanalinga being the only physical linga available today with all seven basic chakra awakened is an energy form which motivates people to meditate and develop holistically towards the higher life. Other dieties with 1-2 chakras awakened can help on selected dimensions of life. After the bhakti movement, everyone wanted to construct a temple to celebrate their devotion to their form of God - therefore, temples were created in every nook and corner off the country. One consequence of this was that the ancient science of creating temples as energy-centers lost its importance. In some of these temples, the deity has been created by yogic processes which require some life force to be transformed to serve given larger objectives. In case of the Kali temple at Dakshineshwar, the life energy used to "sustain the deity" there is provided by animal sacrifice. Sadhguru says that great saints like Sri Ramakrishna did not ask for the animal sacrifice at the temple to be stopped for precisely this reason. They knew that people would in any case slaughter the animals in slaughterhouses for food - hence, it was perhaps better if the slaughter was used to transform the life energy of the animal to sustain the energies of the temple which served the spiritual needs of the devotees. Not that the creation of deities and temples requires animal sacrifice (or, human sacrifice for that matter!) says Sadhguru. However, some life energy has to be used, he says - adding that even a clap is a release of life energy. Sadhguru will not, in fact, allow the use of animal or human sacrifice in any of his temples. However, without some form of energy released and transformed into the required form, the temples constructed in this way would lose their vitality. He adds that temples where the deity has become a "withdrawing life force" are in fact detrimental to people rather than helpful. It is better, he says, to "kill" these withdrawing energy forms if people could allow that, rather that let a withdrawing energy affect people negatively for hundreds of years! With these considerations in mind,  he created the dhyaanalinga with a special process which requires no physical maintenance. The other "devi temples" he consecrated, are however, not nearly as unique and require much less of him too. Naturally therefore, he says he is willing to consecrate many more devi temples but there will be only one dhyaanalinga. His physical body cannot go through the consecration of another dhyaanalinga. 

In the last section of the book, Sadhguru again talks about conquest versus surrender, quoting the story of two yogis with opposite temperaments - Siddhalinga and Allamma. Siddhalinga had made his body strong and hard as a rock, and according to the story, was aboout 280 years old when he met the gentle and soft soul that Allamma was. He challenged Allamma to show him something he had achieved through yogic pratice, boasting that a sword could not cut him. As part of the demonstration, Siddhalinga had Allamma hit him on the head with a sword - and the sword just bounced back from the head as if it had hit a rock. Then Siddhalinga told Allamma that he now had the right to use the same sword back on Allamma - simply because Allamma had hit him with the sword as part of the test. He did exactly that, but only to find the sword pass through Allamma's body as if it had passed through thin air or water. Siddhalinga thereby realized that the yoga of gentleness was no less that the yoga off strength and became a disciple of Allamma. Sadhguru states that today's world would have had fewer problems if the masculine approach of conquest was not so predominant. He also talks there of five kinds of dreams and why it is best to not read too much into dreams but rather just enjoy them, whatever they are. The first is nothing but a reflection of conscious desires in the dream state. The second kind of dream may point to an event about to happen - but is typically presented in a very oblique way, making it very difficult to infer what it really points to. The third kind of dream may reflect some "karma" residing within the system - but it is useless to try to relate it to past lives, etc., because past lives are mostly not in the range of conscious experience of the individual. So there is a great risk of misinterpreting simple fears (like those of dark places) to events of a past life, just because a difficult situation was seen in a dream. Also, it is seldom complete enough to make any sense of it anyway. The fourth dream is actually not a dream in the ordinary sense - it is a power to crystallize things by powerfully projecting one's thought and will. To the extent that it is a creation of the person's own will, this is also a dream. However, it is conducive to liberation. Bhaktas of a high order (devotees) are known to have this power. The fifth kind of dream cannot be logically described and hence is best not to go into it, says Sadhguru. 

Kriyas (and other yogic practices) strengthen the 112 chakras and help people transcend ordinary life's problems many times - but even such preparations cannot succeed in 100 percent of the situations. Those who touch the remaining two supra-physical chakras (113th and 114th) reach a state where any work they do always helps in the process of their liberation - so they have not to bother with "what" to do to make progress. Karmic (including genetic) tendencies, habits and the naturally divisive nature of perception may all create barriers to the human being's transcendence, but the greatest contribution of the Adi Yogi (Shiva, the first yogi) to humanity, says Sadhguru, is the idea that we can evolve beyond our limitations and the technology (yoga) to bring about this transformation. 

Sadanand Tutakne