Character and Spirituality

Character Building/Morality and Ethics and Spirituality

Character building is a Conscious process and a brick-by-brick process. Spiritual process can bring about inner change/transformation but character formation should be conscious effort of the individual that matches the inner spiritual progress. Character development does not happen automatically; it happens very slow even if it happens; therefore the need for conscious effort. If Character development does not match or is not aligned to the inner spiritual progress, such progress remains futile. Therefore no Character, no spiritual progress.

Spiritual progress happens only when there is shift in consciousness every time we meditate. That is exactly what happens to one who meditates regularly in the Heartfulness Way. There is significant shift in Consciousness (because of the Divine transmission or Pranahuti), that we are supposed to recognize and savour at the end of every meditation for few minutes what Daaji calls AEIOU process. And we are supposed to try to remember with an inner attention throughout the day of this shift in consciousness that we recognized in the everyday morning meditation. With this constant inner attention (inner consciousness) to our inner condition we carry out our daily chores, karmas, which slowly turns into devotion. 

Character development and Morality are synonymous; There is no character without moral life. Morality is all about practising the values consciously, faithfully. Spiritual progress gives the solid base that is required to hold on to values.

We can find evidences in our puranas, some characters who progressed spiritually very much with their penances but lacking very badly in Character. It is possible that a person can be spiritually advanced but with no moral character to match and that leads to self-destruction. It is like the flame in a lamp burning brilliantly inside but it is covered by black sooth preventing the lamp from illuminating.

Individual Consciousness and Collective Consciousness

All that see around – happiness, misery, tragedy, bliss in the life in and around us is a play of Consciousness, a manifestation of Consciousness. Consciousness is the real thing behind all that is visible. No Consciousness, no Existence. Consciousness is both inside and outside just like space is inside and outside. In fact, everything exists in consciousness, it appears.

Apparently every being animate or inanimate has consciousness. Every individual possesses consciousness. And this Consciousness defines what the individual is. Collective Consciousness is the total effect of the Consciousness of all individuals. Change in individual consciousness affects the collective consciousness. For instance, unless each soul is at peace, there can never be real world-peace.  Each individual has to be addressed at the level of consciousness to affect the collective consciousness. And there the need to meditate for every individual for changes in the collective consciousness to happen. Because it is only through meditation that real shift in consciousness happens that can be experienced by every individual after sufficient practice.

Samskaras and Craving

 Complexities & Impurities/Samskaras/Karma/Vasanas/Tendencies

Call by any name, they are the obstacles to our evolution; they do not lie outside, they very much reside inside. They do not allow us to be what we we ought to be. That is we are what we are. We are yet what ought to be. They are all impressions made by us in the past, the whole of our past.

Yogic processes are the remedy for getting rid of these things incrementally under a an able Master or Guru.

They are in huge volumes like mountains of Samskaras. There is certainly a possibility of these Samskaras becoming zero.

And that is aim of a Spiritual process; to make it happen here and now not after death.

Zero Samskaras is said to be the state of liberation.

 

Craving/Restlessness/Longing/Intense Desire/Spiritual Thirst or Hunger

Again call by any name, it is innate and intrinsic to every soul. The Soul longs very intensely, one knows NOT for what? The Soul is ever restless. And this restlessness manifests in so many hues and colors, such as being restless for earning money, power, knowledge, fame  happiness etc. and assuming we gain all these things,  even then the soul is restless. There is always some unknown deficiency that is felt. It is like a bottomless pit. It is very challenging to quench its thirst, fulfill its hunger.

And so this search is ignited intensely at some point and we try to purse this voice that has no language, it is a deep urge that cannot be avoided and drives one to the intended goals.

Craving is great fuel to move forward in the field of spirituality especially. What I understand is in other fields, all accomplishments/failures are more or less the results of working out of our Samskaras, called Bhog in Sanskrit.

It is ONLY in the spiritual quest, that the soul's hunger seems to be little fulfilled, confirms that we are proceeding in the right direction. But nevertheless the longing becomes more and more intense as one feels apparently closer to the thing that is being craved for.

This quest has revealed all the scriptures that we have today and more are being discovered/revealed; It appears to be an unending process.

But the pursuit of a spiritual process is something that is fulfilling and makes one feel being getting closer and closer to the thing that the soul is restless for.

How does the Craving for Reality begin?

It is intrinsic or innate character of every soul; some are conscious and some are not. When we use this word Craving, it means a Conscious Craving.

How to increase the Longing?

It can trigger any time of the life; the sooner the better as it is driving force or fuel for spiritual growth/evolution.

One can increase the longing by associating oneself with the thirsty seekers either in person or through books, or serving humanity voluntarily or any other method that occurs to the heart.

One cannot value Spirituality without Craving; and that is why it cannot be forced on anyone. Food is valued only when one is hungry. Pursuing a spiritual practice even mechanically on a daily basis also triggers or invokes the unconscious Craving.

Craving for Reality in some is unconscious because one is more engaged and busy with Samskaras.

The Mind and the Heart

 The Mind

Mind is the kingly thing in the human system; the most critical and a very delicate instrument.

Mind is NOT our enemy. Mind makes or mars our life. It is to be handled very carefully and very delicately.

One should have a friendly attitude towards one's own Mind. Then Mind will listen to us, we can master it over a period of time and practice.

Mind includes Mind, Intellect, Ego and Consciousness.

Like eyes see, ears hear, tongue tastes, nose smells, Mind thinks; Thinking is the function of Mind.

Consciousness is like the sky in which Mind Intellect and Ego are embedded like planets in the sky. Therefore change in Mind, Intellect and Ego effects a change in the Consciousness.

Intellect's function is to discriminate. It is Not our enemy too.

Ego is there to implement what is decided by the Intellect. So Ego is also not our enemy when tamed. Ego is very useful to compete with one's own self.

But all these subtle bodies are to purified and thus refined. This is possible ONLY through Meditation.

As our life revolves around these subtle bodies, and also determines what we are, there comes the need to refine to refine our Consciousness.

Thus regulating, purifying and refining the Mind is critical to all if one wants to be better and better in the real sense.

Where does the Mind reside? It is spread all over the body; it is not an organ. It is intangible. All subtle bodies are intangible and invisible.

There are two ends of the Mind - one is Intellect and the other is the Heart; It is a spectrum with Intellect and Heart as two extreme ends.

 

The Heart

The Heart is a very sacred part of our being. Because it is where the Divine resides, one can feel through Meditation.

There is a physical heart, an organ that beats untiringly without rest lub-dub, lub-dub. When this heart stops everything stops.  This physical heart is from where the impure blood is purified through lungs and supplies to all nooks and corners of the body to continue its existence.

There is a Spiritual heart where one has his/her experiences. The Experience is related to the heart. It is the Centre of our Existence. It is also the seat of emotions. Our life is guided by the feelings that we have in heart and the inspirations captured through them. This heart is also the Centre of our Individual Consciousness.

Incidentally or as per cosmic plan perhaps, the spiritual heart is also at the centre where the physical heart beats.

The path that follows the Heart-centered Meditation is Heartfulness. We shall explore it later.

The heart is the compass of our life. It always guides in the only direction that we must proceed in life. And the heart's actions are spontaneous unlike actions through mind. Unfortunately for whatever reasons, human being has moved away from following the heart and so the stress and misery in and around us. The solution is to go back to heart and follow it. Heart never misguides. It pops up every time we do something wrong.

Moving away from heart is walking into darkness of stress at all levels. Make a U-turn and walk into the Light of pure awareness by following it.

But it is NOT easy because we have come too far, and the heart is unfortunately clouded or shrouded by so much unnecessary stuff that it appears to be polluted.

So the need to pay attention on our heart, clean the heart, pray from the heart, live with our heart slowly by practising Meditation with this orientation.

Let us remember that we can never avoid heart nor we can avoid God.

Some more thoughts about Spirituality

 

Some more thoughts about Spirituality

Spirituality is all about Spirit. If there is NO Spirit it is just a ritual. When you add the spirit or heart it becomes spiritual.

Spirituality is all about looking within; exploring within; watching our thoughts, emotions and actions and beyond.

Spirituality is about transcending senses, transcending mind, and traversing the higher realms of Consciousness.

This journey causes refinement in the human being at all levels.

Spirituality is a journey from Gross to Subtle to the Subtlest.

Spirituality is a journey of inner transformation from what we are to what we ought to be.

Spirituality is also a journey from known to the Unknown.

Spirituality begins when we transcend religion or outgrow religion and not rejecting religion.

Spirituality disciplines the mind, calms the mind, makes the mind more peaceful, tranquil and thus enhances the performance in everything that we do.

Spirituality helps us to excel in everything that we do.

Spirituality is all about moving towards inner perfection.

Spirituality is the need of the hour for ALL.

About God

God is NOT a person.

God is to beyond senses, cannot be touched, smelt, seen, heard or tasted; But He can be experienced deep inside our heart; And that is why one Needs to meditate.

God is simple, human being is complex; Unless one becomes Simple like God, one cannot realize God.

What is preventing one to experience God who resides in every heart? It is our complexities and impurities; It is our desires, Samskaras (karma) and ego. To be devoid of all these things is being like God.

Meditation gives you an incremental experience of God or the Divine.

The closest qualities of God - Peace, Inner Silence (absence of thoughts), Tranquility, Bliss, Wisdom, Love etc.

Some thoughts on Spirituality

 

Let's do some soul-searching: do we really need God? Or are we 'thinking' that we need God? We need to answer this very honestly to ourselves. Then begins the real journey of Spirituality. Do we really crave for Him? if yes, for what?

Some thoughts on Spirituality

Actually in my understanding of Spirituality, it is Universal, an approach to go beyond everything. There cannot be Spirituality without Meditation. And hence Spirituality is synonymous with Meditation; they go together.

Let's explore Meditation. nd its purpose. It is an evergreen topic and almost the buzz word of today as someone said.

The very purpose of any Meditation is to regulate the ever-wavering mind; It is all about regulating the thought traffic. Meditation is also about transcendence to go Beyond into higher realms of Consciousness, that can makes one a better and better human being and then turn into a Divine being. In fact, the mind helps one to evolve his/her Consciousness if regulated.

The purpose of life is To Evolve Everything in this Creation is evolving Consciously or Unconsciously. Evolution is a Natural process. Therefore Nature always supports Evolution. A Spiritual Process is one that helps one to Evolve Consciously; and one will discover the cooperation Nature immensely. A Spiritual process or an ideal method of Meditation helps the seeker to hasten this process of Evolution. And human being is the privileged creature that evolve consciously and attain greater evolutionary heights. There is no end for Evolution.

Gross, Subtle and Causal Bodies

The human system comprises of Gross, Subtle and Causal Bodies. Gross body is the physical body; Subtle Body or bodies mainly are Mind, Intellect, Ego and Consciousness. Causal body is the subtlest body without whose presence, the other two bodies do not exist.

What is that which evolves in this human system

Gross body or the physical body cannot evolve; it can only age. Its evolution if at all is very limited. Causal body or the Soul/Atma is already said to be pure and therefore nothing to evolve. Therefore it is only the Subtle body that evolves and has no limitations whatsoever.

Three States of Consciousness that a man dwells in

There are three levels in which a human being dwells generally:

1) Waking State (Jaagrudavastha)

2) Dream State (Swapnavastha)

3) Deep-sleep state (Sushupti avastha)

There are other states that can be achieved through yogic processes such as Meditation:

4) The Fourth State (Turiya)

5) The Turiyaateet

and beyond; there is no end.

Evolution of Consciousness

As said earlier, it is the subtle bodies that evolve viz., Mind Intellect, Ego and Consciousness. Chit, Manas, Buddhi, and Ahankar in Sanskrit. All these 4 Subtle bodies are collectively called Anathakaran in Sanskit. It is the evolution of Anatahkaran that happens through systematic Meditation techniques under an able guide.

Chit or Consciousness can be understood as sky in which Mind (Manas), Intellect (Buddhi) and go (Ahankar) are embedded just as planets are embedded in sky. Therefore when the Mind, Intellect and Ego are purified, there is evolution in Consciousness to that extent.

Spirituality, Mysticism, Sufism, Yoga

They all speak the same thing and approach is same - looking within. Yoga or Spirituality is both art and science of looking within.

The Need for Guru or Guide, an Adept in this journey is crucial in this inner-exploration

As in any other field, a seeker needs an adept who is familiar with the Path to guide and support to trek the path. Guru is like catalyst in this process.

How to search for a Guru

We cannot search for a Guru, Guru happens. We cannot decide who can be our Guru with our limitations. We just wait for the Guru to happen with hunger for spirituality.

How to know whether the Guru we found is right for us?

The heart recognizes immediately. Our rational mind rebels. Nevertheless we need to convince our logical mind. We can test him/her the way we feel and arrive at a conclusion. But we should not waste our time testing Guru all our life. Once we are convinced, we should bind ourselves with him forever and start obeying him.

My suggestions however

Talks on the Gita - Vinobha Bhave Publishers: Sahaj Marg Hierarchy Publication Trust

The Supreme Yoga - Yoga Vasishtha Swami Venkatesananda Motilal Banarasi Das Publishers

Ashtavakra Gita - Ramakrishna Mission Publications

Authentic Yoga - Yoga Sutras of Patanjali PY Deshpande Publishers: Heartfulness Education Trust, Kanha Shanti Vanam Hyderabad

All books are available in Amazon

Consciousness

Consciousness is today's buzz word than ever before, both in the Scientific Community and of course among the seekers of Truth. Though this Consciousness has been dealt with very thoroughly by our ancient rishis long back. Let's try to explore this a bit.

What is Consciousness?

The meaning given in an online dictionary says: Consciousness is the state of being conscious; awareness of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.

Spirituality says, Consciousness has everything to do with Mind, Intellect, Ego. The Consciousness is like a sky that has Mind, Intellect and Ego embedded in it. Mind (the thoughts), Intellect (The discrimination faculty that decides what is right and what is wrong) and Ego (a faculty that implements what is decided by the Intellect through something called Will) in theire pure form. These are the main tools of Consciousness by which we either rise or fall in the evolutionary journey.

The Consciousness also contains infinite layers where all the impressions/tendencies called samskaras/vasanas/karma/complexities and impurities/vrittis of the soul, that are formed during it's evolutionary journey towards the Perfection or the Pure State. 

The Consciousness is spread all over layer of Life Force Layer(Pranamaya Kosha) and Physical body layer (Annamaya Kosha) also. 

Therefore, Consciousness is also said to be the expression of the soul. It is the Consciousness that defines the human being. It is the change/transformation in consciousness that brings about the change/transformation in the human being. So change in Consciousness is critical for the human being to change: that is change in mind(thoughts), intellect(refined) and a ego(subdued and humble) brings about the desired evolutionary change, the change for the better.

Individual Consciousness and Collective Consciousness

There are two types of Consciousness apparently viz., the individual Consciousness and the Collective Consciousness. 

Individual Consciousness is what every individual human being has; and the Collective Consciousness is the sum total Consciousness of all the individuals in a group or a planet as a whole. There is a French word for this - egregore.

Every individual Consciousness affects the Collective Consciousness. Therefore the need for emphasis on the individual consciousness. Evolution of the Collective Consciousness can happen only through individual Consciousness. And evolution has no limit. It is a journey towards Infinite.

The very purpose of individual Consciousness is to evolve.

How does the Consciousness Evolve?

Consciousness evolves naturally, every soul is evolving naturally at it's own pace, but it is very time-consuming. It is a very Natural Process whether we know it or not. 

But this process of evolution can be hastened or accelerated if done consciously in line with Nature. Then all evolutionary forces that includes Nature contribute thus making the process faster.

This process of hastening the evolution is called a spiritual process or Meditation. All Meditations are or should be directed towards this spiritual evolution and not anything else. The biggest miracle is the human transformation to the highest; there is no other miracle aboove this.

Some meditations are simple and easy, some are tough, some are very time-consuming, some are almost difficult to practice. The soul generally and naturally chooses the process that it is comfortable with.

3 States of Consciousness that a human being generally exists

There are three states of Consciousness where the human being exists:

1) The Waking State (Jagrudavastha in Sanskrit)

2) The Dream State (Swapnavastha)

3) The Deep-Sleep State (Sushupti Avastha)

All these three states of Consciousness have to be transformed into finer states of Consciousness which are many.

Higher States of Consciousness

We shall talk about two higher states of Consciousness that a human being can possibly dwell in: 

1) The Turiya State or the Fourth state: This state of Consciousness is experienced in deep meditations; The experience of deep-sleep state is experienced in the waking state that is during Meditation. This is Turiya the forth state. 

2) The Turiyatit State : This state of Consciousness is experienced when this Turiya State continues during all the rest of the time even after such meditation where Turiya is experienced.

What happens when the Consciousness evolves to higher states?

Firstly an individual becomes better and better human being till he comes truly divine.

The main faculties of human being called Anthahkaran viz., Mind (Manas), Intellect (Buddhi), Ego (Ahankar), and Consciousness (Chit) becomes subtler, purer and finer and therefore powerful, effective and evolutionary. Therefore sharper skills develop that makes man more effective and also to explore higher and higher levels of consciousness; 

Anad that is Evolution.

Heartfulness Meditation - a Path for Evolution of Consciousness

Heartfulness Meditation is a simple system of Raja-yogic Meditation that promotes a heart-centric life that has very effective tools for the evolution to happen in the human being at an individual level.

Basically there are four main practices or tools to be practiced on a daily basis that contribute to our evolution of Consciousness in an incremental fashion.They are:

1) Heartfulness Relaxation Method that relaxes the body and mind, thus prepares one for Meditation (a 5-7 minutes process)

2) Heartfulness Meditation with the aid of Divine Transmission, that teaches us how to mediate on heart. (at least for 30 minutes to start with).

3) Heartfulness Cleaning, a unique process that involves inner purification of Chakras, the various centres of human evolution.

4) Heartfulness Prayer, a tool that allows one to connect with the innermost core of one's being the higher Self and be centred as one progresses.

A regular practice of these four tools results in a shift of consciousness on a daily basis that develops into a meditative state of mind in the individual, a yogic state with which a human being performs better and better in all facets of his life. Progressively the quality of consciousness gets more and more refined and subtle. There is progressive increase of peace in the heart and stress minimized. The individual will be in a better position to face the everyday challenges without panicking and being least stressed. Only experience is the best giver of the real knowledge. Anybody above 15 years of age is welcome to try and get benfitted enormously. 

Moksha or Liberation

 Moksha can be understood as a higher consciousness that is worth aspiring to. Moksha essentially means liberation. Liberation from what? From the bondage of the dualities that we are all caught in. For example, Day-Night, Light-Darkness, Contentment-Desires, Restlessness-Peace, Compassion-Frustration, Courage-Fear, Clarity -Illusions, Pleasure- Pain, Knowledge-Ignorance etc. We are torn and bound within these pairs of opposites. The World that we are living in is full of these dualities or pairs of opposites. It is our Consciousness/Awareness that is bound or free. So Moksha is the state of higher Awareness that takes us beyond the dualities of life that we call bondage. This bondage is the cause of our miseries and suffering we all can easily experience. We cannot have one without the other; that is bondage. However there are yogic practices to achieve this higher consciousness.

The Higher State of Consciousness called Moksha when one achieves lives in a way that is untouched by these dualities and so no impressions are made that is the cause of re-incarnation. And therefore there is a choice of having a re-birth or no rebirth. The soul will be enjoying this choice. And this is something that can be experienced when one is still in body also. Not only after death. Therefore it is a matter of achieving or arriving at a higher consciousness called Moksha. There is still a tremendous spiritual journey to trek after this. This is the least a human being must aspire to. Therefore Moksha is an evolutionary state of Consciousness that is possible to be experienced here and now.

The Heart-Centric Life

 

My dear friend Thyagaraju has invoked the word ”heart-centric” in the discussion forum, and he felt that I can share something about it. I therefore attempt to express what is inexpressible about the “heart” and its place in our life. I try to be as brief as possible.

Heart is our Centre of Existence (CoE). Physical heart is only a container and that too is the CoE of our physical body, in the sense that if this stops, everything stops in the body. The physical heart is the place from where the purified blood from lungs is supplied to all nooks and corners of the human system.

But here we are referring to the spiritual heart, an idea through which a person is described such as kind-hearted, warm-hearted etc. We never say one is kind-minded. The heart describes what a man is.

Heart is the Source of the Divine which is also our Source of our existence, if any difficulty in accepting, you can take it as an idea. It will take us somewhere surely. Let’s try it.

Heart is also where the innermost voice is, which we call as Voice of Conscience (Manassaakshi). Therefore the heart never misguides one in life. Even the mind or intellect are supposed to follow the heart but apparently behave as if they have nothing to do with the heart. The heart’s voice is still alive in us however feeble it is for us to listen.

It is this Voice that guides us when we are about to do something wrong or undesirable, pops up every time we are trying to cheat, or being dishonest for instance. But man successfully manages to suppress it and goes by the head.

And it is said and can be verified in one’s own experience that “Buddhi Karmaanusaarini”. That is the Intellect follows the Karma/Impressions/Vasanas irrespective of what heart says. But even intellect should be resonating with heart and vibrate in tandem. The nest moments in our life one can recount are when one followed his/her heart OR the moment when intellect worked in perfect harmony with heart. These are matters of personal experience.

In Spiritual Science, this heart is figuratively called the “Anahata Chakra” or the Heart Chakra. Surprisingly, the Heart Chakra is a Chakra which is connected to all the other Chakras directly. Therefore there are many spiritual traditions that suggest to meditate on Heart Chakra. Anything you do on heart is distributed all over the human system that includes – Sthool, Sookshma, Karana Sharirs.

Heart is also the Centre of Feelings and Inspirations and our life revolves around feelings and inspirations. All sacred scriptures have accepted that heart is where the Divine resides. Therefore the way to God or Reality is through the heart.

We can safely say keeping in view all what has been said above, that Life will be what it ought to be if we follow the heart or even the head should follow the heart. Every time that we act away from the heart we create stress for ourselves. It is no surprise why every human being is so stressful like never before. Reverting to heart can be the only solution.

Modern research also reveals that heart has it’s own intelligence within and it does not depend on our intellect much. (Refer The HeartMath Institute).

Therefore living life in a heart-centric way IS the way forward for all of us. Please try and see. Be an Experimenter, the Experiment and also the Result of your own Experiment.