The right questions are more important than the right answers. I know this is a long post, but it was such a wonderful discussion that I couldn’t resist posting it.
Balaji: I have heard you talk about letting go of things and not expecting anything, just live life, give up on your desires. I agree the surrender part, but giving up on desires is something that i don’t understand. What if god wants u to think from the heart and ask what your heart wants truly to Him, so that he gives his child what he or she wants? That’s law of attraction right, ask, have faith and receive it
What if god is really a genie from the lamp, like how its put in secret and just tells your wish is my command. Then whatever people ask is what they get. So if people ask for attaining the highest level to god, they will attain it right?
This will contradict your statement of giving up on things right? i understand the concept of I being god and god being I, and that one needs to reduce the gap of ego between the I and god to understand the above statement. But what if this ego could be removed by asking god what u want from the heart?
Ashwita: Your question is fairly complicated because it shifts between levels.
First – the ultimate thing in the journey is to realize that you ARE a part of God. So there is no one to ask things of. If nature puts you there, it takes care of you – if there is a seed, it will get water to sprout and grow. Asking or not asking will not make a difference.
The law of attraction in my observation does not really work. Yes, when certain things are destined for you, there is a strong ‘feeling’ that it will come, which brings along with it a positivity and determination to get that something. When it comes, you think ‘you’ did it. You didn’t. It is like being on a train to Mumbai and praying to God that you reach Mumbai. Of course he answered your prayers. It feels like a significant thing because maybe for a part of the journey the train was going in the opposite direction and you thought that all was lost. That was all part of the plan.
“what if this ego could be removed by asking god what u want from the heart” -> who is the ‘u’ you are talking about in the latter half of the statement, if not the ego?
Balaji: After a day of observation, a lot of things arose, i got the logic of the train example, but wen it comes to the asking or not asking will not make a difference- if this is true then even a person that’s ignorant in life will be liberated at the end?? and even in scriptures like the bible its written only if u ask will u receive.
Even in our history like the Mahabarath and Ramayan, all the powers each character obtained was only after asking god for them. Even Mikao Usui sat down for meditation only because he had a clear intent of what he wanted. He asked and nature gave it. So does it mean that when a person wants something, if the person meditates upon it he shall receive it??
Ashwita: You are confusing powers with awakening – they are both very different things. But even apart from that, yes it remains the same. The asking is a part of the story. Of course you receive only when you ask – even a baby does not get milk until it cries. Or so it thinks.
The asking and receiving part of the story exists in duality. If you want to remain stuck in it, you remain stuck in the ego. When the ego dissolves, there is no one left to ask. Things happen. That is it. Nobody’s home anymore.
Balaji: What is ego? If asking something is ego, then how can one survive in this fast paced life?
Ashwita: Asking is not a part of the ego – having the illusion that you don’t get until you ask, is. Asking is required, it is a part of the story
Think of it like this. You are an actor. You have to say a dialogue. Then the other man saying something. The dialogue is your part. The next dialogue is also predetermined. To think that the next dialogue comes because of you is the illusion.
Balaji: Ooooooooo, okiii so since its predetermined that means god knows that I will ask him so and so things at so and so time?? So even if I fail to tell my dialogues he would have told it?? He is like a tape recorder that just keeps playing?? Then why is it written u ask and u shall receive it??
Ashwita: Yeah that’s mostly correct. As for the bible, most of the things mentioned over there are with regards to the spiritual path – not so much with materialism. So to seek God – yeah, before the ego dissolves that is required, and a real seeker will of course put in the requisite efforts. Without seeking also things happen sometimes, but largely if you ‘seek’ – i.e. if you seek the presence genuinely, it starts to become stronger and the pull of your mind, weaker.
Balaji: Interesting, when u say seek the presence genuinely what are you referring to??
Ashwita: When I say seeking presence genuinely, I mean that you don’t seek it to decorate your ego further. Many people want enlightenment because it would make them feel better about themselves. Then the moment they come face to face with an unpleasant fact about themselves, it puts them off. They just want reassurance from the path that their belief systems are perfect. A true seeker wants to break all belief systems.
Balaji: And where do all these people who have lost their ego self stay??? Can they live in a society like ours??
Ashwita: Nothing really changes when the ego dissolves – in fact, you can be a better ‘actor’ on the stage of life. Many enlightened people I have heard of, almost no body in their family knew they were enlightened, and they continued living like ‘normal’ people. A few would see the light in them and become disciples and that is how I heard of these people.
Balaji: How does one get to know that the ego self is dissolving within themselves??
Ashwita: I guess one would start seeing that one is less controlled by the mind. You are able to let go and surrender to life more. You are more in the present moment and running away less to past and future.
Balaji: Have u met anybody who has lost their ego self?? And how do u know that the person you’re talking to is a person that’s enlightened?
Ashwita: Yes I believe I have.
It is almost impossible to tell by watching their actions or behavior. One thing that might be noticeable is that they might be visibly in the present moment – not holding on to stuff from the past, but that is also hard to tell. The only way I assess is by looking into their eyes. I guess once you start having some access to ‘the light’, you can see and identify it in other people.
Balaji: Yeah sometimes i get confused so much with the way our belief systems our built without questioning. People just agree to whatever is written without understanding the context in which they are being told.
When u say less controlled by the mind, how can one make decisions??
Ashwita: Decisions will only be better when you are less controlled by the mind – because now YOU can use the mind to take the right factors into account, keep obsessions at bay and take the right decision based on logical as well as intuitive assessment, without giving in to unreasonable fears.
Balaji: What does surrender on to life mean???
Ashwita: Surrender to life – To be in acceptance of whatever life throws at you. This includes any action you might have to take to deal with the incidents. Doesn’t mean you just sit in one corner saying ok, life threw this at me, I accept it, I won’t do anything.
Balaji: When u say present moment, your present consists of both the time line of past and the future right?? The moment was once a future and then it became present and then it became past, so the ego can be dissolved in any area of the time line right?? Why is it specific that u need to be in the present to dissolve it?
Ashwita: The present is only the present. The past and future are aspects of the mind. When you REALLY start to observe your mind, you realise that it runs to the past and future because it doesn’t like what is being handed out to it in the present. There is nothing really, to dissolve in the past or future.
I compare this with a kaleidoscope. The present is a particle in the center. The past, childhood, inner child, past lives, ancestry, future, etc are all different mirrors. You can try resolving it by looking at the mirrors, but the reflection shows you only one side of the particle. Much easier to deal with the particle – the present, itself. It holds all aspects of all time.
Meditation is about being completely present. In that sense, there is no journey. There is no one to make a journey. There just… is. But to come to that realisation – even superficially, takes effort sometimes.