The more I live, the better am I convinced that we are incessantly driven by destiny. In the early years of exuberant adolescence we are full of vibrant optimism. The world seems our theatre and we are confident of playing any part that we choose. The batterings of life mellows us into accepting the role assigned to us and we spend the rest of our lives try in vain to justify that whatever we did or got was through our own volition. Each day we relentlessly struggle to keep our ego’s intact and we try hard to convince ourselves that events are happening because of us. A thousand times have we been proved wrong but we forget to learn our lessons in time. The moment we realize that we were never in command over ourselves and our role here, a great inner loosening takes place. It seems as though a life gripping knot has been miraculously unwound and everything around us seems perfectly in place. There is no conflict at all. This is enlightenment. The dropping dead of the false façade – the ego; is the true essence of spirituality. But unfortunately, there is no way to bring about the nemesis of the ego. It will happen if it is destined to happen, not otherwise.

Religions have mandated many ways of annihilating it. For thousand’s of years various forms of meditations and austerities have been advocated and practiced by all known races and clans. If there were a method to reach enlightenment the entire human race would by now reached it. Isn’t it not ironical that despite so much religious propaganda and spiritual inculcation in every known form Mankind have become progressively become more unhappy and stressed. We stand more alienated than ever from life and nature. The answer lies in understanding that there is no way to achieve peace. Peace is not a byproduct but a state of being. Hear the mystics and read their writings from any religion. One will find total disdain of established dogmas and practices. One single thread will run through all their utterings and that is enlightenment is a cosmic happening not a calculated event. One cannot strive for that serene state. The reason is being that we as individuals are the culprit. Our imagined selves, our false sense of identity should drop. And for this to be facilitated, we have delve deep into our inner recesses to face our true face. The “unborn face” – as the Zen Buddhists call it has to be perceived for this false hallucination that we call living to end. Once again we could only initiate this process. It is left to the cosmic will whether we break free from the strangle hold of our thought structure which poses as an independent entity. Our consolation lies in those immortal words of Krishna in the epic poem – The Bhagavad-Gita. He says “Even a little drop of Dharma will save you from great harm”. Rendered in modern terms; it means that a little introspection into ourselves will give us a lot of peace and serenity. We would find that life becomes a little less stressful, more joyous and definitely more poised. And surprisingly life will become ridiculously simple to live. Perhaps, all of us should give it a try. Who knows what destiny holds for us. If not redemption from the bondage of thought, we could at least hope for a little peace, a life filled with optimism and an understanding that there is a way of life that is qualitatively richer and more fulfilling than the agony that we are going through now. Let us ask the question? Am I what I believe what I am? If our questioning is true and sincere, perhaps we may reach the answer which Moses got from Abraham on the top of Sinai Hill – “I AM THAT I AM”.

Reflect on this.

Death is a great leveler. No matter what you are death metes out the ultimate justice. It is very curious that parents always shield us from death. Elaborate paraphernalia is drawn around death. It is considered something bad and evil. The importance of life is always stressed and death is delegated a back seat. Man is always looking for permanence of life. We spend a lifetime building a so called permanency but death is inevitable. Every spiritual book talks about the impermanence of the physical body and the need to touch something that is non-material. But the problem is that spirituality is considered the engagement of the old. When all the energy is sapped out of the individual we turn towards spiritual books. In schools we find children put though mechanical prayer routines which neither parties do not understand. Our scriptures talk about the wrong focus that we have in life and all the slokas and mantras reflect the thinking of our ancient seers. At a young age we must be taught the importance of these statements. The seeds must be sown at a young age. Beyond a point it becomes difficult to understand and appreciate these thoughts. A healthy life needs an understanding of death. Osho used to say that the way you die reflects the way you have lived. A wholesome life lived from moment to moment will not fear death. It will be a total acceptance of whatsoever life gives us.

I was recently reading the controversial book by Desmond Morris – “The Naked Ape”, which talks about the biological origins of Man. It is a fascinating book. It stirred the moral conscience of many when it was first published. The books talks about how mankind still remains a remnant of his primate ancestor – the ape. Even though technologically and culturally we have evolved beyond recognition; deep down we still carry the genetic underpinnings of our origin. The book reveals how this nature is reflected in our most common activities like sex, rearing among others. At first reading this book will most definitely affect the sensibilities of many and that according to me is the most surprising fact.

Somewhere down the millennia we have adorned a new status for ourselves. We started believing that we are a different species specially endowed with capacities that make us unique amongst organisms. Today it is inconceivable that we can think of ourselves as organisms. We have started to think of the world in human terms. Scientifically, we call this as anthropomorphism. It means that we conceive everything around us in terms of human reactions. The gods that we build are humans; the behavior of animals and phenomena is interpreted in terms of human characteristics. We have in a sense isolated ourselves from the world around us. And this isolation has caused immense problems for us. We are afraid of our instincts. The primordial genetic programming is being suppressed for the sake of societal structures. We fail to understand that we are nothing but the product of the cosmic will and as Will Durant put it – “after 2000 years of civilization, we are still nothing but a trousered ape”. The aberrant behavior of individuals is mainly due to this false isolation. UG Krishnamurthy described his transformation as a return to his womb. No concepts, No verbalizations but intense sense of life. He wouldn’t talk about it because there is nothing that could be talked about. Life is a perennial flow and there is no stagnant pool in it. The need for survival necessitates communication, but words should not be the boundaries of our life. While it is true that we have evolved beyond recognition, it should not blind us from the fact we are a part of the Cosmos sharing this earth with all other organisms. And more so we are essentially an organism. We have as a specimen tried very hard to suppress our genetic needs but it as an undeniable fact that the biological pull is always there in all our activities and relationships. We clothe them in fine words and push it under the carpet and deny its existence. All the aberrations that we see in human behavior are due to this blind-eyed attitude towards our primeval nature.

The first step towards it could begin with an deep understanding that we are not the pinnacle of creation. We have been around for roughly 40 to 50,000 years, whereas the universe has been in existence for over a billion years and there is no reason for us to be arrogant or proud of our existence. The earth is a tiny speck in the Universe. We are one amongst millions of galaxies. The sheer breadth of our cosmos should make us humble. From the movement of a blade of grass to the expansion of the Universe is controlled by the Cosmic law. There is no need for us to try and push anything. Let us accept the flow deep within and allow the Universal drama to unfold itself. We have to play our part well.

We come alone into this world and depart without a companion. This is a fact of life. In our brief existence of, we build bonds which seem permanent to us.Friends, enemies, lovers, acquaintances are the various names that we give to our relationships. Caught in this bondage of words we spend a life time preserving them. How many times have we been hurt by our relationships? It seems as though mankind is doomed to live in pain and suffering. We spend a lifetime figuring how to live life and when it is time for us to go we regret the way we have lived our life. I am amazed at the phrase “Making a living”. Life – we already have. Living is something that is bound to happen. Then where is the question of us trying to make a living. Look at a Man’s life. He spends his time planning for the future and let’s go of the present. Man is the only creature who creates misery for himself. And not understanding the trauma he has created he spends a lifetime trying to come out of the problems. No religion can help us in finding answers to our questions. It has to happen at an individual level. The true depth of any religion lies in acknowledging the fact that there is no help from anybody. Consciousness is one. Every individual has to withdraw into that state of innocence where one has to realize that no matter how hard we try there is no freedom from the bondage that we have created for ourselves. It is the effort that creates the problem. Relax in the moment. Let the present moment unfold its glories.

Words are mere symbols. They are only pointers to reality. But most of us confuse the word for the real thing . In all religions there is a constant emphasis on worldless wisdom. The more silent we are inside,the more intense will be our experience of life. J Krishnamurti often stressed on the need for ‘wordless experience’. The moment we start naming something we have killed reality. The beauty of a rose is experienced only when we can perceive the flower without any verbalization. The moment we name it as a Rose, the experience is finished. This is the way we kill life. Reflect on how many times we have pigeon holed our experiences without allowing life to unveil its beauty to us. Human beings have this curious habit of naming a thing and then experiencing the object through that key hole.