How seemingly contradictory is this fact that, despite being alive, we have no connection with life? Is it possible? Yes, not only can it happen, but it is currently happening! We are so busy living that we are oblivious to life.
Awareness of the Source of LifeLooking at trees, one wonders whether a tree would be aware of its roots; its source of life. Let aside trees, but is even a human aware of his roots, the source of life? Without awareness of the roots, how can you relate to life? The visible life is upheld by the invisible. The enlightened ones say that unless this is experienced, despite being alive, there is no relationship with life.
Mere intellectual understanding is not enough. If the knowledge stored in the intellect emerges in discussions but not when required in practice then it is useless. Only when it becomes experiential knowledge does it transform life. An intellect without the profundity of experience or its pining creates an illusion of accepting borrowed ideas as its own. The intellect is very superficial.
Birth and LifeUnderstand the difference between birth and life through experience, not through intellect. Without this perspective, birth will be misunderstood as life. The mistake of considering birth as life creates the illusion of considering death as the end. One who is bound to birth is also afraid of death.
What we call life is less life and more death – living death. Such life is a passage from birth to death; a mere waiting for death. He who does not know the existence of consciousness is living namesake. He who does not experience the soul that exists before birth and after death is not truly alive. Then he will not even experience life after birth and before death because the experience of life is continuous and unbroken. Since he has considered birth as life, he has only attained birth, not life.
Birth is an external event, while life is an internal event. Birth is not life but can become the gateway to immortality. Generally, it becomes the gate to death. To make birth a gate to life, not death, do sadhana. Living with unawareness takes one to death. Living with awareness is life. Life is obtained through sadhana, that alone is spirituality.
Death is Not the EndBirth is a supreme opportunity to attain a divine life. Death does not bring an end to life. And if life ends at death then understand that life was not lived the right way. Only those who haven’t truly lived die. For those who live correctly, death is not the end but a gateway. Those who don’t live rightly, don’t even die rightly. They must be born again and again and die repeatedly.
People think they have received life, but in reality they have attained birth. Life is yet to be achieved. Of course, there is an arrangement and possibility that it can be achieved. What is received now is just a seed. You must work on it. Find the land, plough it, work on it, and then pour water in the form of sadhana. And one day it will sprout, flowers will blossom, and fruits will ripen.
Life is Beyond TimeLooking at children and the elderly we can see a difference in their proximity to birth and death, but from the perspective of life there is no difference in them. Generally, they remain untouched by life. Birth and death occur in time, while life is beyond time. Ageing occurs over time. Increase in age does not mean growth in life. Lifespan and life are different. Lifespan is connected to breath. Life is related to awareness. Living with self-awareness alone is life.
The enlightened ones call out that find life, or else death will seize you. Every moment it is coming near. Every moment after birth is the moment of its victory. Whatever you do, except for the effort of entering life, the victory of death is certain. Wealth, fame, etc. are of no account. They are like shadow or smoke. In the presence of death, everything becomes useless. At the moment of death, everything gets robbed away in a moment. The existence of the self, realisation of the self alone is the nectar. Only that is beyond death. It escapes death because it is beyond time.
Everything that is connected with time is subject to death. Time is the motion of death. Running in time means running in death. Everyone is running towards death. Awareness of this fact kindles the aspiration to attain life. Just as a man who knows that the house is on fire runs out, in the same way he who knows that he is enveloped by death develops the thirst for attaining life; obtains the desire for the knowledge of immortality. There is no greater fortune than this desire because that alone eventually makes one enter the deeper levels of life.
Dash Towards the Horizon
The one not aware of the blissful self remains outward. He therefore does not experience perfection and fulfilment. No matter how much he may possess, he does not experience fulfilment due to his impure tendencies. He always desires more. Due to this, his mind keeps running out. Whatever he has obtained does not seem enough for him. He wants more and more.
This race is as if you are running to touch the horizon. You feel it is near. The sky appears to be touching the earth at a distance of five to ten miles. You think that if you run, you will reach it in a few hours. But no matter how much you run, even if you go around the globe, you will still not reach the horizon. The distance between you and the horizon will always be the same, like it was before you started running. Even at the end of the run, it will be the same distance as it was before commencing the run. The distance between you and the horizon will never disappear. When there is no place like the horizon then how can that distance disappear?
The meaning of desire is that there is always an illusory horizon in front of you, and you are running to achieve it. But you dash forward, and the horizon also moves ahead. You have a lot of possessions, yet you want them to get doubled. If your horizon dictates that whatever you have should double then even when everything does get doubled, this horizon will still insist that it should double up again! The math of doubling will never end. As you become successful in doubling, you will grasp this math tightly that if you could double so easily then why not double it again. And if you are unsuccessful, you will keep saying that you have yet to succeed. In both these situations there is only running, and therefore there is only suffering.
He who abides in the inherent nature of the self is blissful, and he who is not steadfast in the self is afflicted with ignorance. The nature of the self is pure, blissful, and complete in itself. Therefore, he who abides in it experiences purity, bliss, fulfilment, and perfection.
Authored by: Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji
Awareness of the Source of LifeLooking at trees, one wonders whether a tree would be aware of its roots; its source of life. Let aside trees, but is even a human aware of his roots, the source of life? Without awareness of the roots, how can you relate to life? The visible life is upheld by the invisible. The enlightened ones say that unless this is experienced, despite being alive, there is no relationship with life.
Mere intellectual understanding is not enough. If the knowledge stored in the intellect emerges in discussions but not when required in practice then it is useless. Only when it becomes experiential knowledge does it transform life. An intellect without the profundity of experience or its pining creates an illusion of accepting borrowed ideas as its own. The intellect is very superficial.
Birth and LifeUnderstand the difference between birth and life through experience, not through intellect. Without this perspective, birth will be misunderstood as life. The mistake of considering birth as life creates the illusion of considering death as the end. One who is bound to birth is also afraid of death.
What we call life is less life and more death – living death. Such life is a passage from birth to death; a mere waiting for death. He who does not know the existence of consciousness is living namesake. He who does not experience the soul that exists before birth and after death is not truly alive. Then he will not even experience life after birth and before death because the experience of life is continuous and unbroken. Since he has considered birth as life, he has only attained birth, not life.
Birth is an external event, while life is an internal event. Birth is not life but can become the gateway to immortality. Generally, it becomes the gate to death. To make birth a gate to life, not death, do sadhana. Living with unawareness takes one to death. Living with awareness is life. Life is obtained through sadhana, that alone is spirituality.
Death is Not the EndBirth is a supreme opportunity to attain a divine life. Death does not bring an end to life. And if life ends at death then understand that life was not lived the right way. Only those who haven’t truly lived die. For those who live correctly, death is not the end but a gateway. Those who don’t live rightly, don’t even die rightly. They must be born again and again and die repeatedly.
People think they have received life, but in reality they have attained birth. Life is yet to be achieved. Of course, there is an arrangement and possibility that it can be achieved. What is received now is just a seed. You must work on it. Find the land, plough it, work on it, and then pour water in the form of sadhana. And one day it will sprout, flowers will blossom, and fruits will ripen.
Life is Beyond TimeLooking at children and the elderly we can see a difference in their proximity to birth and death, but from the perspective of life there is no difference in them. Generally, they remain untouched by life. Birth and death occur in time, while life is beyond time. Ageing occurs over time. Increase in age does not mean growth in life. Lifespan and life are different. Lifespan is connected to breath. Life is related to awareness. Living with self-awareness alone is life.
The enlightened ones call out that find life, or else death will seize you. Every moment it is coming near. Every moment after birth is the moment of its victory. Whatever you do, except for the effort of entering life, the victory of death is certain. Wealth, fame, etc. are of no account. They are like shadow or smoke. In the presence of death, everything becomes useless. At the moment of death, everything gets robbed away in a moment. The existence of the self, realisation of the self alone is the nectar. Only that is beyond death. It escapes death because it is beyond time.
Everything that is connected with time is subject to death. Time is the motion of death. Running in time means running in death. Everyone is running towards death. Awareness of this fact kindles the aspiration to attain life. Just as a man who knows that the house is on fire runs out, in the same way he who knows that he is enveloped by death develops the thirst for attaining life; obtains the desire for the knowledge of immortality. There is no greater fortune than this desire because that alone eventually makes one enter the deeper levels of life.
Dash Towards the Horizon
The one not aware of the blissful self remains outward. He therefore does not experience perfection and fulfilment. No matter how much he may possess, he does not experience fulfilment due to his impure tendencies. He always desires more. Due to this, his mind keeps running out. Whatever he has obtained does not seem enough for him. He wants more and more.
This race is as if you are running to touch the horizon. You feel it is near. The sky appears to be touching the earth at a distance of five to ten miles. You think that if you run, you will reach it in a few hours. But no matter how much you run, even if you go around the globe, you will still not reach the horizon. The distance between you and the horizon will always be the same, like it was before you started running. Even at the end of the run, it will be the same distance as it was before commencing the run. The distance between you and the horizon will never disappear. When there is no place like the horizon then how can that distance disappear?
The meaning of desire is that there is always an illusory horizon in front of you, and you are running to achieve it. But you dash forward, and the horizon also moves ahead. You have a lot of possessions, yet you want them to get doubled. If your horizon dictates that whatever you have should double then even when everything does get doubled, this horizon will still insist that it should double up again! The math of doubling will never end. As you become successful in doubling, you will grasp this math tightly that if you could double so easily then why not double it again. And if you are unsuccessful, you will keep saying that you have yet to succeed. In both these situations there is only running, and therefore there is only suffering.
He who abides in the inherent nature of the self is blissful, and he who is not steadfast in the self is afflicted with ignorance. The nature of the self is pure, blissful, and complete in itself. Therefore, he who abides in it experiences purity, bliss, fulfilment, and perfection.
Authored by: Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji
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