Intellectual Enlightenment: A Matter of Thoughts
Posted: Sunday, April 17, 2005
by Vivek
Vivek Sharma
- Vivek Sharma -
http://www.thespiritual.org
Chelaram
was returning home from a friend’s place one night. It was a cold
winter night and he shivered as he made his way through mud-covered
street towards his home. The whole village seemed asleep as not a single
soul was in sight. A dog barked in distance. Chelaram got alarmed. He
was once bitten badly by a dog at his wife’s native place. His
mother-in-law had the habit of feeding stray dogs and he had unknowingly
walked amidst them. He never actually liked his mother-in-law. He had
a deep suspicion that she always tried to annoy him by deliberately
doing things that he did not like. He had tried to talk to his wife
about it on a number of occasions but to no avail. Though, he knew that
it was not completely her fault. Not many people knew that she was deaf
in one ear. He had taken her to the city twice in last three months
for check ups but the doctors could not find the real cause of her problem.
He had also noticed that doctors in the city were not as polite and
articulate as the traditional healers in his native village. His grand
father himself was a healer and in most cases he could diagnose patients
just by holding their wrists. It was amazing how many secrets the human
body held within it. His brother had gone to University to study medical
science but quit in just six months. The young people these days just
did not have the patience and penchant for knowledge. “What has
become of this world", he sighed as he reached his house, “how
are my children going to survive?" His wife opened the door and
asked him, “what took you so long, do you know what time is it?"
He looked at her and thought, “The whole world is in peril and
this poor soul is worried about me coming home late."
If you still cannot
make any sense of this story, read again. It is a classic example of
how one thought triggers another and takes the mind on a faraway ride.
A thought that started with the dog’s bark travelled through three
generations and many territories in just a few minutes and in the end
had nothing to do either with the dog or his bark. And it does not stop
there. The thoughts keep going relentlessly, even in the sleep, 24/7.
Chelaram is not alone. Almost everybody around him is engaged in some
thought process or the other. Most of times, we are not even aware of
what we are thinking about. It has become an automatic process. Some
people would argue that the thoughts can be focused and concentrated
on something, say at the time of reading of book or even meditating.
Though, it can only be possible to “focus" or “concentrate"
all the thoughts when we first have the knowledge of how many thoughts
are there in the first place. If we just let the thinking mind wander
in the dream world and then grab a handful of thoughts to concentrate
on something it will only be a partial concentration. Similarly in meditation,
without first “knowing" the origin, existence and extent
of thoughts, we cannot claim to be in meditation. It is most likely
that what we think as “meditation" is actually another thought
process. If “I" is the thinker and constantly “thinking",
how can “I" itself go in the meditative state? It surely
has to engage in another thought process and create an impression of
meditation. We have relatively reasonable knowledge about our physical
bodies, at least their internal and external structures – what
functions each organ has and what the body is composed of. Can we say
the same about the thoughts or the mind? Clinical psychology recognizes
the existence of ego in form of an “illusory" identity which
is in conflict with itself most of the times. Even today, there is not
enough explanation or understanding of the “human nature".
The problem lies in viewing mind and brain as the same entities. The
bigger problem lies in the fact that those who are attempting to find
the answers about the human nature are actually looking for logical
answers. They might call a set process of study “scientific"
study but actual scientific process is not different from the spiritual
process.
Einstein once said,
“Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by
forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect,
as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we
all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible
piper."1 This is not a scientific statement but a spiritual statement
from a scientist. George Gurdjieff said on personality, “Personality
in man is what is "not his own" . . . what come from outside,
what he has learned, or reflects, all traces of exterior impressions
left in the memory." 1 Even for an experiment’s sake, if
we can for once view the physical body and the brain on one side and
the thinking mind or ego on the other, we might find a new direction
in understanding the human nature. It amazes me how easily people accept
the notion of “Body" and “Soul" as two separate
entities, without actual knowledge or self-realisation, but resist when
it comes to brain and mind. The point is not to accept or reject the
existence of either the brain or the mind. The point is to “discover"
and “know" the truth ourselves. Not by logic or conjecture
because that will be only from the thinking mind. The need is to start
from a clean slate and begin with saying “I do not know. Let’s
find out". How do we make that start? How do we clean the slate?
The task is very subtle. It has to go to the basics. If I have to wipe
something off, I must first find out what I am wiping and from where.
Otherwise, it will again become only a thought-based exercise. The mind
will go in an imagination of “doing" something when actually
no “doing" has taken place. Albert Einstein also said, “We
should take care not to make the intellect our God it has, of course,
powerful muscles, but no personality." 1 Intellect cannot bring
about self-realisation, only a “thought" or concept of self-realisation.
We have become so
steadfast in our “views" and “opinions" that
we try to answer every question from what we “believe" in.
While on one hand, we do recognise the spiritual wisdom and teachings
of masters such as Buddha, Meister Eckhart, Gurdjieff, Saint Augustine,
Ibn Arabi, Rumi, Ramana Maharishi and J. Krishnamurti and many others,
we are not willing to implement their teachings and methods in our lives
on the other. At intellectual level, the recognition is there but no
hint of practice. Instead, the mind wanders in logical interpretation
of terms such as energy, consciousness, soul, spirit etcetera. The mysticism
of unknown stimulates the mind and the thinking intensifies. Thinking
is like intoxication. The dreams and imaginations provide a safe and
rich sanctuary where anything is possible. Once on one of the public
forums on the internet, I wrote that there is no such thing as a soul
– not in the way people think about it. The idea was to bring
attention to the faulty, dualist premise of viewing “soul"
as a “real" entity separate from the body. You can imagine
the flurry of backlash that ensued with the moderator even threatening
to delete the thread. I can almost guarantee that all those who responded
only “believed" in the concept of soul and believed so strongly
that they got offended. If they “knew" they were souls and
if that was true, their responses would have been just the opposite.
That is the whole point. Starting from a clean slate. Starting a journey
of “knowing" rather than “thinking". If there
is soul, that knowledge will be revealed to you by the nature itself.
If there is consciousness, it will come forth in the process of self-realisation.
Then, there will be no argument.
Famous French philosopher
Henri Louis Bergson wrote, “In short, intelligence, considered
in what seems to be its original feature, is the faculty of manufacturing
artificial objects, especially tools to make tools, and of indefinitely
urging the manufacture." 1 Seldom have we realised that we spend
most of the times of our lives in satisfying artificial desires. The
proof is in the never-ending cycle of desires and wants irrespective
of the material achievements. True satisfaction and happiness is rarely
found. The mind gives an impression that if something is gained or obtained,
it will become happy. However, that happiness remains elusive no matter
how many things are gained or obtained. Then the philosophical thoughts
kick in - “What is the purpose of my life?" “What
is the reason of our existence?" “What is God?" Inherently,
the human life is striving for happiness and to find the answer to its
existence and meaning. However, the answers are being sought in logic
and thought-based convictions. When one thinks, “What is the purpose
of my life?" no answers come from the mind, for the thoughts cannot
reach the natural realm of the human existence. If a spiritual master
was to say, “Give up your ego and come to me with a clean slate,"
the mind resists. The ego has reigned over us for so long and the ego-based
“identity" has become so strong that it is not just ready
to give itself up. Instead, the mind settles with word-based “information"
and creates an illusion of “knowledge". If you ask a true
spiritual master a question about life, existence and universe, they
will not give you an answer. They will give you a method - a method
to practice and discover the answer by yourself.
There are few who
want to take the path of truth and self-discovery. There are many who
want a “quick" enlightenment. An enlightenment that does
not ask them to change anything but rather just endorses what they have
always believed in their minds. An enlightenment that is achieved through
“higher" thoughts or “divine thoughts". We have
become very cleaver with words and terminologies. We first create the
words ourselves and then try to use them to find the answers that are
not bound by the words. Since the thinking mind is not capable of knowing
the truth, it tries to create description of things and events. While
the physical brain mainly stores memories (wordless memories in form
of pictures), the thinking mind associates words and word-based meaning
to those memories. It gives an impression that the brain is thinking
but in reality it is a thinking mind that “recalls" the
events triggered by the use of words. However, the mind can only recall
“static" pictures. You can sit and try to remember an incident,
or experience" but only the memory of that event will appear in
your imagination in form of snapshots. That incident and the experience
were live and dynamic but the mind being artificial, cannot make you
“re-live" that same incident or experience again. You know
that you were in love once. You have a distinct memory of that “feeling"
and that “experience" but no matter what you do you cannot
“live" that same feeling once again – no matter how
deeply you think. The result is that the mind always remains “unsatisfied".
It keeps creating desires, emotions, dreams, inspirations, hopes, faith,
beliefs and many other thought-based elements that do stimulate your
thought process but never actually bring about a spiritual experience.
It keeps engaged in one conjecture and logic to the other but never
touches the realms of natural reality. It is almost impossible to put
spiritual wisdom and insight in the words because there are no words
for them. It is said that when the self-realisation dawned on Buddha,
he became silent. He remained silent for four continuous days and the
demi-gods and angles (Note: they are another topic of discussion in
themselves that I intend to tackle in the next issue) had to appear
and request him to speak and share his experience with the world.
Vivek Sharma
Editor
The Spiritual
Email: editor@thespiritual.org
http://www.thespiritual.org
Very thought provoking and inspiring. Hope to read more in the future
This is a very amazing piece of writing.What you have written is true to the bottom.Self realization is nothing but seeing divinity in all movable and immovable entities in this endless universe