Gratitude

Recently, I received an email invitation from my spiritual teacher whom I consider my Dhamma Father.

The invitation stated his wish to express his gratitude to all his students who learned the technique of Vipassana Meditation during his first 10 years marking its reintroduction to India after 2000 years by him. The invitation highlighted his wish to express his deep gratitude to everyone who learned Vipassana Meditation from him and have helped themselves and others to derive the benefits from this technique. Because of their support, today, millions of people have received this technique. They have benefited from it and will continue to derive benefit from it in their journey to the ultimate freedom.

Initial reaction of the Mind was...

Why has he decided on this? I have never heard about this reversal of norm. Isn't it always the disciple who is grateful to the master? Sons and daughters grateful to the parents? And not the other way round except in the ultimate spiritual sense.

What is the message he is sending to his students?

As far as his actions are concerned, mundane logic doesn't apply. He is an Acharya. Therefore, according to Indian definition, he practices first and then preaches on the strength of his practice. He is a true Archarya in that sense. In my 29 years of contact with him I have never heard him utter even one sentence which is contrary to his teachings. His every word can be authenticated and experienced by practicing and walking on the path which he himself has walked and THUS shown to everyone.

Few sittings of meditation and the Mind began to comprehend...

A seed which has not germinated, irrespective of its characteristic will still be subject to law of nature of birth, decay and death. But it will never loose its identity and potential during its life. However, only when someone plants it and nurtures it for a while, the seed is able to manifests its full potential. And if there is no one to care, according to the Law of Nature it will still try to propagate itself.

Conceptually, a seed therefore, is grateful to the gardener for helping it to manifest its potential and rewards the gardener with millions of identical seeds in return. The gardener in return is equally grateful to the same seed for providing food and shelter to him and his future generations for a little care he has given initially to that seed in the process of becoming a tree.

Aren't Masters like seeds sometimes? Striving as Disciple, to become the Master and after becoming Master helping the other disciples to become masters? What is the driving force in this process? Gratitude?

Seed and the Gardner both grateful to each other? therefore, is gratitude not essential for mutual survival? and hence part of the Law of Nature?

Mind ....

Seed, Gardener and Tree began to loose their identity, became one and fade away leaving only the feeling of Gratitude.

May my Master continue to provide the shade and seeds of Dhamma like a Bodhi Tree and help this gardner to transform into the seed...the tree....and the Ultimate.

Earthen Lamps:

Being born in a Hindu family, lamps became an integral part of my Life. As a child, it was fascinating to watch the spectacular display of lamps around on every occasion. When there was no festival it was the routine of lighting lamp at the family shrine at dawn/dusk and on every happy/unhappy event in the family.

They always symbolized individual and collective beliefs, emotions, greed, craving….

Whenever I cried, my mother or sister or brother would generally sober me down by taking me near the lamp and showing me a flickering lamp. I am sure I must have then stopped crying due to diversion of my attention to the flickering lamp. Later, when they felt confident that I would not burn myself out of ignorance about fire, they would ask me to light lamps on various occasions.

Soon more understanding about the lamps developed. I started observing various types of lamps earthen, brass, glass etc. types of wicks and lamp oil and their characteristics, their ability to burn and sustain in different environment. Often during the Deepavali or Diwali (the festival of Light) guardianship was also developed unknowingly. There would be a competition amongst the neighboring children as to whose lamp remains lit longer? Which entailed carefully choosing the ingredients, timely refilling and often keeping awake or waking up in the night to check that our lamps were still burning followed by boasting about our achievements.

Childhood soon passed away turning experiences in to nostalgia.

In the high school days, I came across a book in hindi by Rajneesh (later known as OSHO) named “Mittee ke Diye (Earthen Lamps)” The book had a lasting impression on my mind. I must admit, irrespective of my views about OSHO later on, Rajneesh was primarily responsible for my paradigm shift from physical to metaphysical concepts about the lamp and other things around.

A remarkable sentence in this book “All of us are like earthen lamps whose flame is constantly striving for the higher within us...” turned light from the earthen lamps in to a Ray of Insight….

On recollection, MIND deliberates ..

Can the flame exist without the holder, wick and oil? Or can a holder become a lamp without a flame merely with its form, shape, or substance it is made of?

What makes a good lamp that can sustain, enlighten the surrounding and yet be capable of lighting more lamps?

What type of wick and oil that can provide light without much soot and sparks?

Isn’t the right oil is akin to Right Conduct or Sila in daily Life? A pre-requisite to an ideal lamp whose flame must sustain longer in any body, strive upward and yet capable of lighting other lamps dispelling the darkness of ignorance?

In what way we are different from the earthen lamps?

A combination of Nama-Rupa or Mind-Matter with a single goal of survive and Emancipate?

Mind wanders ....

The Law

Recently in one of the states of India a group of people attacked young women and men in a pub. They identified themselves as the army of the Lord Rama (Ramasena). Their intent was to preserve the culture of which they have no understanding.

Rama was known as the Maryaada Purushottam which means the ultimate in Morality or highest in Shila. And his so called followers proudly violated the essence of Rama's teachings by attacking the women and their modesty!! Naturally, there are protests and defenses and justifications for their actions and inaction by politicians and so on and as usual law has it's own pace and process... to book and deliver justice.

Mind wonders...

If an individual attacks another individual and more so a woman, the law is quick to act and punish the individual but when a group of people commit atrocities under the name of some God or Historical person, the process of the same law slows down and justice is further delayed causing considerable doubts about the legal system amongst the law abiding people and anguish to the victims. As a result, the ego of the guilty also reinforces with the undue publicity. A rather alarming state for both the guilty and the society.

Without meaning any disrespect to the legal system of the land....

Why justice is ineffective to nip the crime bud and has to wait until the bitter fruits are delivered?

Why is law, invariably reactive and not proactive?

Why is jurisprudence still not imbibed in the Human psyche?

Is it because it has no or limited jurisdiction in the area where the Crime is committed... The Mind.

If we know and accepts that all actions whether moral or immoral, are committed in the Mind first before manifesting on the physical level. Then is it proper for us to depend on the external remedy for our internal malady?

Is it because for an unhealthy tree we tend to treat leaves and branches instead of roots?

If the answer is Yes, then is there a way to reach and treat the roots?

The MIND?