Ingrid Goes West (2017)

Movies, On Knowing Oneself

Director: Matt Spicer
Actors: Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen

This is a film that shows how things can go from bad to worse when you are not being authentic about yourself, when you try to be like someone else and when you try too hard to make that someone else like you.

Ingrid is a young girl attracted to the life of social media influencers. She keeps following their posts and also stalking them in person, trying to emulate them and become famous like them. Being jealous of one influencer, she sprays pepper in her eyes on her wedding day, for which she is sent to a facility for psychological treatment.

Once she comes back from the recovery, she is attracted to another influencer Taylor who lives in Los Angeles. Ingrid gets a huge sum of money in inheritance from her mother and uses that to shift to LA near Taylor. In order to get acquainted with Taylor, she even kidnaps her pet dog and pretends to find it and return it to her to become friends.

Being obsessed with Taylor, Ingrid goes to great lengths to develop closer friendship with Taylor and be a part of her society and circle. She reads the same books, uses the same cosmetics as Taylor and even accidently lands up in the same parties as Taylor.

Taylor’s brother Nikki finds Ingrid’s actions very suspicious and discovers that she is even using Taylor’s birthday as her phone’s password. When Nikki tries to blackmail Ingrid to stay away from Taylor, Ingrid tries to scare Nikki with the help of her boyfriend Dan, who she was forced to make her boyfriend when Taylor insisted on bringing him, but ended up almost killing Nikki.

Eventually, her cover is blown and although she tries hard to win back the friendship of Taylor, she realizes it is all over. Left with no choice, she records a video for the social media before consuming sleeping pills.

Luckily Dan sees the post and calls 911. While recovering in the hospital, Dan tells Ingrid that her post went viral and she herself has become a social media celebrity for being authentic about herself. She even got her own hashtag. That brings a smile on Ingrid’s face. 

Being Authentic

I doubt there is anyone who has not been rubbed off by the pernicious influence of social media. Continuously browsing social media sinks us deeper into our darker selves. Various emotions, mostly negative, are sub-consciously evoked without our being aware of them. And then our actions are provoked by those emotions and we don’t understand why we become irritable or angry when nothing in our surroundings gives us any reason to be so.

Watching posts on social media makes us feel that the whole world is having fun and everyone is so damn successful while I alone am a loser. If I am not aware of this phenomena, then I am sucked into it. I need to show to others I am also having fun and I am also someone who can get likes and appreciation. So I will post content just for the sake of getting likes and then will keep an eye on how many likes I got and who liked it and who commented on the post. It becomes an addiction very soon.

If you happen to fall in love with a person and their social media posts, it could get ugly. At this moment, we can say that it is not just about social media. Many people go to great lengths to be like the film actors they idolize. They will wear the same kind of clothes, eat the same food, copy their mannerisms and way of walking and speaking. They start living a false life. They don’t be themselves but pretend to be like their idol.

Living a false life is always unsatisfactory. You need constant stimulation. If you don’t see that person for a day, you will start to get withdrawal symptoms. If you are used to getting a response to your post within seconds, then you will be agitated if you don’t get a reply within the first few minutes.

Ingrid was lucky that Taylor discovered her pretense and she was brave enough to admit it. Committing suicide is not the option but dying to the false self is surely the right way. It takes tremendous courage to face oneself as one is with all the inner ugliness. Aubrey Plaza is simply superb as Ingrid.

I haven’t been living a glamorous life in LA… I’m just a loser. I’m pathetic… I know there’s something wrong with me but I don’t know how to fix it and I don’t know how to change and I just don’t think I can change. So maybe I’m just maybe this is just who I am and maybe I’m just tired of trying to make people like me and I’m tired of pretending like I’m someone I’m not and I’m tired of being alone and I’m just tired of being me. So I just I feel like if you don’t have anyone to share anything with them what’s the point of living. Yeah so I guess I’m just making this video just so you guys can see the real me at last.

My Journey to Being Authentic

There was a time early in my career where I completed the Johari Window exercise. It came as a shock to me to get some feedback that I was not expecting. I was always pretending to be a good person and when it became clear that others were seeing through to the real me, I felt very ashamed of myself. At first, I denied the feedback, saying it was all a conspiracy to blame me. But in moments of self-reflection, I knew who I was in reality. All my efforts to keep pretending to be a good person and making others like me was futile. I could relate very much to what Ingrid was going through.

In the normal course of life, we are always pretending to be someone, to be good enough, to be capable, to be competent. That is an image we create for ourselves. And then we do everything possible to protect it. We can go to any lengths to prevent people finding out our real selves, which we believe is bad deep within.

There is a lot to gain in terms of one’s spiritual growth if one gathers the courage to face one’s real self someday.

The Trap of Spiritual Pride

Reflections

Human beings all over the world live a troubled life. Externally they may put up a show of happiness and joy but internally, there are issues to which they don’t have any answer, any response. If you really see clearly, all the striving for excitement is only an excuse to get away from the things or people which cause hurt.

All people want happiness for themselves. They seek for it in experiences, in work, in play, in books, in spirituality, in travel, in food, in relationships. Yet they don’t get lasting happiness. It is fleeting. So people have to constantly strive for getting it – running after one thing and then another.

Mostly people don’t have time to find the root cause of their issues. They are satisfied with fake instant solutions, even though the real problems are simmering deep down. The idea seems to be to get through life with as little problems and as much enjoyment as possible. All they are worried about in any scenario is what they can get out of it.

There may be at times inner promptings to them to seek something deeper, something of significance but such promptings are quickly brushed aside since they tend to slow them down. So most people in fact the majority of people are living in utter ignorance of the truth and reality. Maybe it is supposed to be that way.

But for the few who are inclined to go deeper at the cost of what other people may think of them, the realization of who they are awaits them. And it is every bit worth the effort.

So what makes a person inclined to go deeper? What makes him stop and question what is going on? What makes him reject the instant responses which earlier were his pet solutions? Probably there is some realization of the hollowness of such things. Something triggered such a realization – a deep emotional hurt or a physical loss of someone. The traditional answers no longer make sense.

Only in this situation, a person attempts to see directly without any explanation, without any support of books and teachings. He feels he is lost unless he is able to find that higher meaning to all that is happening. He will discern all answers carefully without trusting anyone. And it is possible that one day he may become enlightened and realize the full meaning of everything.

But has his heart changed? Not sure still. If he has been seeking enlightenment only for himself, he will still be bound with the last chain. His heart is still self-centered. He may want to share his teachings with others but he will not be able to do so. He will get a feeling of superiority – of having discovered the ultimate and others don’t know about it.

Such a realization does not generate compassion because the person is concerned with his own success. He may ignore others and go into a shell, become a recluse, staying away from society which is not up to his standards. He has discovered the ultimate with his own efforts and unless others put in the same effort, they will not realize that. He is willing to help but he wants others to approach him as a realized master. He has the feeling of entitlement that the world must respect such an individual who has realized the Buddha. This is spiritual pride.

One cannot let go of it with effort. Spiritual pride can go unnoticed for years altogether. The only way to discover it and accept it is by realizing that one is still suffering, one still is seeking followers and recognition, not for material success but for spiritual success. It is all the same game.

How silly. How shameful. How vain this all is.

If one really accepts oneself with all one’s faults, one becomes humble. One realizes the danger of what one is doing and becomes mindful of what one says and does. One realizes that he has never changed. He has been the same always all these years despite the glimpses of enlightenment, which were nevertheless genuine.

To live is to live consciously every moment, fully aware. One cannot be mechanical in this. Once awake, try not to go to sleep. Be aware of the inner promptings and follow them, instead of measuring one’s success on the spiritual ladder.

There is no enlightenment that one can talk about or teach others. One can only live an awakened life – a life of love and care.

Infinite Possibilities

Nature of Reality

Every moment has infinite possibilities. You can do one of a billion things right now.

However, the moment you decide, the moment you conclude, you stop being aware of those possibilities. You then just want to follow the conclusion; execute the decision.

The moment you decide to go to the office, or decide to write something or decide to take a shower, all those infinite possibilities collapse into one – the thing you have chosen to do.

But the moment you regain your awareness of your decision, you might have access to those infinite possibilities once again.

Finding Answers

Enlightenment, On Knowing Oneself

Mostly we keep ourselves so busy so as to keep our deepest questions submerged under the surface of our daily consciousness. The questions poke their nose time and again but we push them back with some or the other busyness or temporary gratification.

What questions are these? The question of boredom, dissatisfaction, lack of direction, uneasiness about everything, fear and insecurity. These are just the surface questions. We don’t even touch the real deeper questions.

We search for the answers in some book or in the words of some guru or spiritual teacher. We may listen to their talks or spend few days in some silent retreat. And we may keep doing the same for years together without any substantial benefit, except the ability to more easily push back the questions with canned answers that we collected from our efforts.

The truth is that the answers cannot be found in words and sutras. You cannot find them in the past or the future, neither at home nor in the wilderness, neither in temple nor in a brothel. The answer is not of space and time. It is not of belief or doubt, neither of God or nature. It cannot be found by logical reasoning or blind faith. It cannot be found by striving or sitting in meditation. It cannot be found on Google or ChatGPT

The answer you are seeking is a reaction to a question. So long as the question exists you will seek an answer. The question will not allow you to rest in peace. But the fact is that to find the answer, you must first understand the question and the questioner.

Most spiritual seekers engage themselves with trying to find the answer to the question – “Who am I?” but in reality, they need to seek the answer to the question – “Who is asking the question who am I?”

The question must be asked without words. If you ask the question in words, you will get the answer in words but that answer cannot satisfy your hunger. You must get the wordless answer – direct sight! So you must ask the wordless question.

Turn your whole being into a question. Become the question, don’t just repeat the words in your mind. When you do this, you become still. And stillness is the invitation to the answer you are seeking!

What to do in life?

Reflections

This is a critical question – What to do in life?

Most people do what everyone else is doing.  For example – study, go to school, college, do a job, start a business, marry, make kids, send them to school, get them married and so on. Society encourages you to make money, become successful and famous, buy property and make life more secure for yourself and your family. That is the general direction of humanity. If you observe all this closely from a very objective standpoint, it all seems mindless and boring. It is sheer stupidity.

You also see some people who live the so called religious life or spiritual life i.e. they do meditation, follow some practices like chanting mantras, go to some religious places or on a pilgrimage, join some satsang and listen to some guru. They may also engage in occasional charity, yoga, participate in workshops and also admonish others who are living the regular life to mend their ways and follow the higher path. At the end of the day, this is equally boring and senseless.

Gurdjieff talks of Type A, Type B and Type C influences. Most people live under Type A and Type B influences. But there is still disillusionment. Nothing seems worth doing. One can do the things as pointed out by society and others and also earn the fruits from them but then what? For someone who thinks too much and sees too far like The Outsider of Colin Wilson, the prospect of living like this for the entire life is meaningless.

Religions have pointed to something higher e.g. Nirvana, Atman, Brahman, merging your consciousness with the higher consciousness, becoming one with the Universe. You are That! Until you experience that, there seems to be no escape from the mundane. But once you see that, once you experience that even for a moment, then life is not the same. Then ‘I’ does not matter, it’s a lie, an illusion, once the ‘Nameless’ is seen.

Having seen that and experienced that, the daily life is even more drudgery – the recurring chores, eating food, washing clothes, going to office, making presentations – a drab and dreary life. One reflects – what can I do to wake up every day and live like God? There is a great sense of urgency. Earlier, one thinks it’s a long life but now one sees how fleeting life is and desires to merge with God consciousness at the soonest. 

Quitting one’s job is not the solution. It will create more stress since you will need to focus on the dull and boring task of making ends meet. So what to do? You cannot go into ecstasies like Ramakrishna all the time and forget about everything.

A sure sign of progress on this path is the voluntary reduction in the intellectual tasks like planning, working out alternatives, etc. You just want to do simple things like organizing the house items, working on some craft ideas, reading a book, not doing anything in general but just breathing and living in the present moment. 

Once you realize that all things are fleeting i.e. they are impermanent, that in fact they don’t exist at all but only appear to be there, then there is no desire to possess them. Even if there is an interest, it wanes soon. This is true of money, property and things.

Once you realize that all time is now, then there is no worry of the past and the future. You look around and see yourself everywhere. The universe breathing in and out. You don’t wish for something to happen or regret for something that happened because those are just your interpretations.

Once you realize that others don’t exist as people but only appear to be so, you develop compassion for them and their silly life. You prefer to stay alone in seclusion. You don’t need anything from them and neither do you have anything to advise them or give them. If something pops in your mind to do, you simply do that. There is no guilt, shame, fear, anger or desire.

To conclude, you live fully by NOT living in the worldly way. Stopping the worldly activities is the only way to live more abundantly. You are relaxed and not stressed about anything. Relaxation is enlightenment as Kenichi san says.

The Buddha talks of extinguishing the flame. It means you are so much one with the existence that the separate entity does not exist. The thoughts cease and that is called the end of the cycle of birth and death.

Do you have any alternative way of living? Do you want to continue living and going through all the sufferings, tensions, troubles and frustrations or having to put up with the world. How should one engage with the people of the world who tell you what to do – to you who sees more than they do?

You need to tell them how short-sighted they are, how foolish, ignorant and deluded they are. They will not like it, they will not relate to you, they will ignore you or even persecute you. But you cannot join them in their tomfoolery and play their games and pretend to like it.

You must live by your truth!

Dusshera – Good Over Evil

Metaphors, Reflections, Stories

Dusshera is symbolic of the victory of good over evil. The myth and legends point to the victory of Rama over Ravana and Durga over Mahishasura.

We are all happy that Rama defeated Ravana and Goddess Durga killed Mahishasura. So now that both Ravana and Mahishasura are out of the way long ago, does it mean that we are now living in good times? Hardly.

Look around you and you will find so much evil in the world today also. So has Ravana taken birth again? Has Mahishasura become alive again? If so, where is Rama and Durga? Are they just imprisoned in temples and Chief Guests during Navaratri?

The point that we miss in all this is that these stories are not external. There is a Rama and Ravana within us. There is a Durga and Mahishasura within us. It is the way we think that determines whether we are Rama or Ravana, Durga or Mahishasura. The battle is in our minds – the battle of good and evil. Who will win?

It is said that good ultimately wins over evil. But is it that given enough time, good will win? What about till then? Is evil dominating till then? Will good win before we die?

It is very important to realize the evil within us. We mistakenly believe it is outside. But look closely. Is anger out there? Is envy or jealousy or hatred out there? Or in here? Who gets frustrated and irritated when things are not going your way?

We think other people are the cause of our negative reactions. It may be so. But that does not let you off the hook. The inner war is the cause of the outer war, not the other way round. If you are at peace internally, where is the need to hate someone, get angry at someone, or become irritated?

Check within who is in charge – good or evil. Have you taken offence on someone saying something bad about you? Are you complaining about something or someone? Are you wishing other people in your life were different and treated you more lovingly? Do you feel misunderstood and that no one is listening to you? Are you carrying grudges against someone who has hurt you in the past? Are you planning to take revenge for some wrong done to you? Are you constantly worried about how you will succeed in life? Are you afraid about what others will think about you?

If any of this is true even momentarily, it means evil exists in you. One of the characteristics of evil is that it keeps you in deception. You feel everything is ok. That it is natural to be this way. That the problem is not with you but with others. This gives evil time to incubate and grow till it becomes very difficult to manage and overcome. In the end, we die without experiencing the victory of good over evil.

Our notions of good are quite superficial, just limited to good external behavior. It is like putting on a fake smile while going to a party you don’t want to or congratulating someone on their success while internally smirking that he did not deserve it.

Appearing to be good has become more important than truly being good. In fact, we do not even know what it means to be truly and genuinely good. We keep repeating that good ultimately wins in the end. After all that is what is conveyed in all the movies and all the mythological stories, isn’t it?

The point is not that I am painting a picture of the world in which nothing can be done. The point is that the hero of the movie is not some other person. It is YOU.

There is a Rama and Durga within you. Instead of identifying yourself with your name and circumstances, you must identify yourself with these forces of good within you. That is when the battle of good against the evil actually begins. Until this battle begins, evil is winning hands down.

Once evil is seen within, the seeing itself is the good, the fight begins. You will see how your anger has fractured your relationships. You will see how your misperceptions have ruined your friendships. You will see how your envy and jealousy have distorted your understanding of others. You will see how your vengefulness and hard feelings have crippled the quality of your life. You will see you have no love within you for anyone. You will repent for carrying hard feelings for someone. You will forgive and ask for forgiveness. You will start loving everything for the first time.

Only and only then good is said to win. Once good awakens, it will know what to do, it will tell you what to do. There is no chance then for Ravana and Mahishasura to gain any foothold. There is a path of goodness, there is a good life that one can live. It is our birthright to live a good life with love and affection for nature and other human beings. Are you ready for such a life?

Mahishasura was a shape-shifting demon. Just like him, the evil within us comes in different manifestations. You have to be as agile and persistent as Durga to overcome these stratagems. Your aim must be to live a life of goodness, to be a genuinely good human being. No amount of wealth, success and fame can compare with such a life.

I invite you to live the good life. Wish you a Happy Dusshera!

Inner Independence

Enlightenment

Today, India is celebrating its 75th independence day. It is a big day. 75 years ago, the British got out of the car and handed over the steering wheel to Indian people. So yes, we are independent of the British rule. We have our own government now. We have our own constitution, our own rules, our own dreams to follow and our own identity in the world. Our independent India allows us freedom to choice of education, freedom to run our business, and freedom to choose the government.

But are we truly free? Free as an individual? Inner independence!

Aren’t we still in the prison of divisive views, wrong understanding, and ignorance? Aren’t we still in the prison of afflicting or troublesome emotions like hate, jealousy, lust, anger and pride? Aren’t we still in the prison of reactive behavior, biases and prejudices? Aren’t we in the prison of egoistic thinking, self-delusion, and attachments?

Who will struggle for our inner independence? There is no one else. We have to struggle with our inner prison on our own. Another person cannot get us out. We have to break the walls, open the lock and walk out.

The biggest hurdle in this struggle is the perception that one is free already. Just because there is outer independence, does not mean there is inner independence. Since we believe that we are already free, there seems to be no need for any struggle.

The struggle may begin when one becomes aware of one’s being in the inner prison. The choice is clear. Stay in the prison, do what the guards tell you to do so as to avoid any punishments and carry on the life in prison thinking there is no way out. The other choice is to break the patterns of conformity and try to break free. The world will prevent it. Others who are with you in the prison will dissuade you from attempting to escape.

Fighting with the powers does not help. The powers are too strong. Just like India’s independence was won with the power of non-violence and non-cooperation, so must the inner struggle be carried out with non-judgmental awareness and non-cooperation with your inner compulsive desires.

Inner freedom is possible and it is your birthright. You must aim for that. Inner freedom allows you to be your true self without pretending to be someone else, it allows you to love everyone without limitations and it allows you to lead a conscious life leading to inner joy.

The Mechanism of Letting Go

Happiness, On Knowing Oneself

Everyone advises letting go but no one precisely tells how to let go. One of the best instructions I have come across for letting go is from David Hawkins. It goes as follows

Letting go involves being aware of a feeling, letting it come up, staying with it and letting it run its course without wanting to make it different or do anything about it. It means simply to let the feeling be there and focus on letting out the energy behind it. The first step is to allow yourself to have the feeling without resisting it, venting it, fearing it, condemning it or moralizing about it. It means to drop judgment and to see that it is just a feeling. The technique is to be with the feeling and surrender all efforts to modify it in any way. Let go of wanting to resist the feeling. It is resistance that keeps the feeling going. When you give up resisting, or trying to modify the feeling , it will shift to the next feeling and be accompanied by a lighter sensation. A feeling that is not resisted will disappear as the energy behind it dissipates.

David Hawkins

That’s all there is to letting go. Most people are unable to let go because they are caught up in the thoughts of letting go. But realize one thing very clearly that thoughts, feelings and sensations are one body. They are not separate. When there is a thought, there is also feeling and also sensation.

Most people talk about letting go of attachments. You can let go of attachments only in the moment the attachment arises, not at any other time. Same is the case of letting go of fears.

Supposing you are afraid of dogs and you want to get over the fear of dogs. If you are at your home, you cannot do anything to get over the fear of dogs. There is no dog around so there is no fear. The fear arises when there is a dog around. And that is the time, the only time, you can deal with the fear and let go of it. If you are attentive, you will see the fear arising and the feeling take over you. That is the time you need to follow the instructions on letting go as described above. Allow the feeling of fear to arise, to stay and to subside. If you are watching it in the moment without resisting or without following your usual habitual reactions to the dog, then that feeling will come, arise, stay and disappear. If you have done this (allowed this to happen) then you will notice that you do not have the same intensity of fear the next time you are around a dog. Because you do not allow the fear to arise in the first place, because you resist that feeling the instant it arises, you are unable to let go of that completely. Instead, it becomes stronger and stronger.

This is true of any other fear or attachment. If you want to break the habit of smoking for example, then you have to deal with it when the urge to smoke arises. No amount of thinking or talking to yourself will get you to stop smoking. The only thing you can do in the time when that feeling is not there is to develop awareness or mindfulness. When you are developing your awareness, then that awareness helps you when the real fear or the urge arises.

Most of our feelings are learnt by the automatic nervous system in a state when we were not aware, like in early childhood or when we did not know the words for certain things. These become automatic reactions hard wired in our system. The continuous practice of letting go can help us to become free step by step. As you become more and more aware, you become more sensitive to the feelings arising within your body, you are more aware to the sensations in your body and the movement of your thought. It becomes easier to let go.

Awareness is the master key.  

Half Knowledge is Dangerous

Language, Nature of Reality, Spirituality

There is a saying that half knowledge is dangerous.

If you have read the stories of Suppandi in the children’s magazine Tinkle, you will know what I mean. Once Suppandi’s master instructed him not to let anyone in the house while he was gone. Suppandi diligently followed the instructions and when his master returned, he did not allow even him to enter the house. Another time, some guests had come over to the house and Suppandi was asked to bring some Samosas. He brought them in his hand and was reprimanded by his master to bring everything in a plate. Next day his master asked him to bring his shoes and Suppandi brought them in a plate.

Image Credit: Tinkle

These stories illustrate in a funny way how half knowledge is dangerous. However, it is true in real life also. Cooking a new dish without knowing the nuances may affect the taste of your preparation. Writing a complex piece of code without knowing the entire context of the customer’s requirements will lead to unintentional bugs. Travelling to a distant city without accurate maps will lose you hours in getting on the right track. In the simplest case, if your knowledge is less than complete, you will get less marks in the exam. We can recognize innumerable such examples in our daily life.

If we really think about this, then whatever we know is always incomplete, always half. In fact the more we know the more we feel we know less about something. So at all times, our knowledge is half knowledge. We don’t know the entire story.

Just to clarify, when we say half, it is not exactly 50%. It means not knowing different facets of the subject. Whether you know 25% or 75%, it is still less than complete, therefore it is called half. You cannot say that someone who knows 25% is more ignorant than someone who knows 75% or the other way round.

So now the question begs itself. Is there a state of complete knowledge? If you keep on gaining knowledge, will you ever know everything? I doubt that.

New knowledge is always getting created and therefore it is an endless journey to gather complete knowledge. In the lifetime of an individual, it is not possible to acquire all the knowledge of all the things.

Since we all are in the state of half knowledge and we take action based on that, so we are all ‘dangerous’ people. Whatever action we take based on our half knowledge is less than optimum and will may create more harm than good in the long run. But that seems like a controversial statement. Obviously, we can do good for others and not all our actions are harmful.

At this stage, we reach a point where our understanding is limited by the collective understanding. It is possible that even though when the world says something is good, it may be harmful but you will know only when you get some more knowledge of the cause and effect of that action.

This discussion is taking us deeper into the meaning of knowledge, good and harm. It is not possible to conclude this at this level.

They say the Buddha had complete knowledge. In one of the suttas, the Buddha said to his monks that he knew far more than what he revealed to them, taking the analogy that he taught only a handful of leaves compared to all the leaves in the forest. According to the Buddha, we must focus only on the alleviation of suffering and not bother about who created the universe and whether it is eternal or not.

According to the Buddha, knowledge that helps in alleviation of suffering is superior to knowledge that may lead to increase in suffering or have no impact on suffering.

Vedanta philosophy points seekers to go beyond knowledge. It speaks of the ending of knowledge. Ved + Anta = Vedanta. The Vedas were considered to be the repository of all knowledge till then. But it was found by the wise that that knowledge was not conducive to emancipation or awakening. It merely was leading people on the path of rituals and worship.

Could it be that the clue to solving this conundrum is to get an insight into knowledge i.e. understanding the very nature and structure of knowledge.

That which we call knowledge is a consensus, a provisional conclusion, not ultimately real. It is something that helps you to get along in life, work with others and do things but none of that fundamentally is true, it’s not the substance of the universe.

Mathematicians will argue otherwise and speak of the perennial constants and universal ratios which are at the root of the laws of nature. But such laws are just the result of our universe being the way it is and mathematics a way to understand that through symbols. They are the truth only of our observable universe dependent on the way we have designed our science.

Knowledge, if we understand it as a description of the world whether in language of English or Mathematics, has inherent limitations, which cannot be overcome by gathering more knowledge.

Knowledge is the description of the world and description = words and words are symbols to represent what is. But ‘what is’ cannot be captured as symbols or in words and descriptions. Knowledge by its very nature is a representation of ‘what is’ and a re-presentation is not the real deal.

To know ‘what is’, knowledge must be dropped and only bare awareness must be retained. When you are able to look and hear what is with bare awareness without creating knowledge of that, then there comes a time when you can directly experience ‘what is’ and know directly, not through any representation of words and formulas.

Direct knowing is complete at all times. This is not gathered knowledge or applied knowledge. This direct knowing is new and fresh every moment. And action based on this direct knowing is the right action that is good, not harmful.

So it is not a question of half or complete knowledge, it is a question of direct knowing or indirect knowledge.

Will You Sit With Me Here?

Reflections
Veer Savarkar Udyan, Nigdi, Pune

Will you sit with me here?

Till our thoughts and memories flow past us and fade

Will you sit with me here?

Till the breeze stops playing music on the leaves

Will you sit with me here?

Till the sunrays stop playing hide and seek with the trees

Will you sit with me here?

Till the water in the stream stops singing

Will you sit with me here?

Till nature’s performance goes silent

Will you sit with me here?

Till we perceive that it is us who are on the stage