Astrological-Sleep?

I was not surprised too much when somebody asked for an astrological solution for sleep! When nothing else works for getting something that we desire to have, we think of Shri Amitabh Bachan or his likes! (a non believer by situation, turns to God, when everthing else fails... Courtesy: story writer of “Deevar” a movie that 'wrote the confirmation letter' of the hero's appointment into film-industry (Hindi)...)

So, it is about getting so much attached to something, that we tend to give up our rigidities within, to somehow get that something... Spiritually this tendency is looked at by Masters as something very significant, and a few Masters who try to specialise into evolving yet others (the disciples, usually,) look out for attachments in their wards!

Sometimes, the basic needs become also our intense desires... and fear comes in the way! Even this kind of situation complicates the persona... psychiatrists claim their 'cutting-edge' superiority only when they find themselves equippedd to identify and isolate the root-cause of this complicated muddle in another person!... And when such a muddle is in a group or mass-groups, the person who even names it get recognised as a 'philosopher'! (and not that apt nomenclature of Mass-level-psychiatrist'/whatever!)....

...

Sleep is a basic requirement... it restores the 'life' in us!... May be most of us tend to look at the incidental benefit of rest and sleep quota to be the main benefit... that is only until we become insane due to lack of sleep (but by then... the problem gets shifted to someone else at the proximity)...

It is perhaps the apprehension of the sanity problem (about which a person so attached to fear is usually better familiar with), ... which drove that person to ask about the effect of planetary positions or..... the manipulative possibilities of its wrong positionings, as a possible solution for the lack of sleep!

The answer(mine) was not aimed at suggesting any astrological solution ... perhaps that is why the half-dejected mind that raised the query had left it to a vote mode (that mode is not even a conscious choice.... it is THE fate as per the designers of computer world creators who carved that crater to dump such abandoned data!)

And yet, I am tempted to revive the question afresh to use it for an opportunity to look at the connection between that 'peaceful-sleep' and its close and natural rival 'disturbing-fear' .... afresh!

It is up to us to take it with that kind of a 'salt' (salts of all kinds are said to be the taste-enhancers inside a meaningful-kitchen!)

Fiery sleep other-wise ...?... dunno!

psn(25^th March, 2013)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130305130430AAuTU7w

Hi i cant sleep at night due to fear of somebody breaking in my house..plz suggest astrological solution?

Non planetary solution ... not just an 'unearthly' one!(my answer):

Sleep is too important!
Even a non-astrological solution is welcome, if I can 'somehow' manage to get sleep..!!!
Best of doctors tell nurses at the hospital to skip the strict-timings of dosage of medicines/pills, if the patient is fast asleep (they are yet to discover a drug-substitute for deep sleep!)..
...
Fear is in the mind (no where else)... Fear may be very genuine, and for very valid reasons too!
But, even a soldier needs a little sleep...

Consciousness switched off!

I simply couldn't wait to know whether 'my take' about it is going to take off or not!

The query was good, and I got a chance to say what I liked to tell/sell/yell about!

The question:

How is consciousness shut off during sleep?

How do we regain it when we wake?

My conscious reply:

We insist on a memory recollection of anything that we are going to accept at all, to be existing, to be real, to be so...!!!
We do not have any 'reside' of our deep sleep states (dream does not belong to that 'deep' state of sleep)...
And yet we know, we slept well, because of our 'after effects' that we experience... Well rested, mind feels fresh, etc!
The problem is about that 'self-awareness' which our mind is unable to record, during the sleep... (our sense organs remain withdrawn... and our mind happens to depend on only the inputs received through sense organs... other than that, the mind uses the memory data to do that permutation and combination, to call it as 'creativity/innovation' etc!!!... But, we miss to take note of the self-awareness, which is witnessing all this drama... Some times, we experience "My-mind" and 'My body" distinctly... most of the other times, it is "I am .. the body/mind"... )
There are spiritual practices available to create a possibility that our consciousness does not get shut off during sleep! Once that happens, there is a by-product! (Like, 'Buy-one, take one-free'!).. the by-product is that when this body is unable to sustain/support this consciousness (what we call as clinical death, as per our dear doctor's certificate)... our consciousness would know, it would tell itself, "well our game is over now, with this body"... !!!
The second point... How do we regain it?... (Well, when the question becomes intense, "am I alive"... the sensory levels of perception get invoked... And that is how we awake, not because the sleep quota is over, or that we are well rested!!! Some of us do not yet know the distinction even.. And when we know the distinction, we do not know why on some days, we feel more sleepy after waking... and yet on some other days we feel more tired after waking!)... This consciousness, gets restored only during sleep states right now (we do not allow it other times, that is the only problem! Spiritualists manage to allow restoration even during non-sleep states! That is also known as 'meditative-states'!)...
....
Nice question!
got that opportunity , due to this question, to push my hidden agenda gently across!!! :)
Thanks for that!

The link: http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130322124224AAClxfs

psn(23rd March, 2013)

Negation

The subtle aspect of it, is what attracts my attention when I try to find out the hidden blocks that hinder the spiritual growth! The 'passive negation' is elusive to that easy perception of it! For instance, the lack of appreciation for something deprives us of the experience of some other thing else, which in turn evokes joyousness in us, and we keep lamenting that joy evades us! If we happen to remain indifferent to all forms of music, for instance, how are we going to even know as to what we are missing?

I would try to use a practical/technical incident to demonstrate... Maybe 'techies' might find an appeal due to this example! (This happened a few years ago.... We were still new to use of computers for international/inter-country transactions)

At my work place, it so happened that the task of handling a cumbersome software fell upon my shoulders... It was cumbersome because of several reasons... The people around were too early at 'settling' down when compared to the computing technology, that demanded some attention at least initially, to re-settle into it, relocating ourselves from the earlier settlement into manual hand-written form of accounting! This particular software was cumbersome due to a unique reason! The designers had sought to focus more onto the security aspect rather than the user-friendliness of it, and hence they 'expected' the needed adherence to 'getting familiarized with its nuances on an on-going basis'!!! So, this one software became a source of fascination for me! The cost of even updating it was stupendous... And the people who held the access to the source codes of the software depended more on the process of revamping the very software, at least once in every three months (irrespective of whether the functionality-utility needed it or not!!), because, the security of the software was what made it the most dependable and most sought-after one globally! The bulk of inter-country financial transactions was done using this software...

The drama part of it: There was a data field which expected the figure in the form of a currency as its unit... The routine data input was fed into it, for that transaction, but the software refused to move further, to the next menu... It did not even give any hint as to which of the fields were filled incorrectly!... Several colleagues tried their 'common-sense'... the nearest they could approach to the problem was,... that this transaction was with a Japanese institution, and hence the currency was Yen. When they had decided not to try any more with it, (and were about to request the clients to use US dollars, instead), I requested for a few more minutes, and looked at what they did not try to look at so far... They went through that amount field, Yen, but did not bother to look at it... (We KNOW, the Yen has only one unit and no fractional units as its currency forms, is what they unanimously decided within themselves, even unaware of their own unanimity about it!)... I looked at that field, and saw that the name of the currency was correctly mentioned as 'JPY' and so was the amount too... correctly mentioned. Then it struck me, how is this stupid memory machine going to know that I have stopped with the numerals, digits of inputs?... Perhaps it is still waiting to know,.... that..... 'we' find it as 'enough is enough'!... I requested permission for one more attempt at data input mode, and they readily obliged me, reactivating the 'dead' file, to allow correction/editing to the data... All I did was to place a dot, a period at the end of the digits, the numerals of the amount field... Now the software got what it wanted (the 'go-ahead' for its cursor, the pointers to proceed to validating the next data field!).

Two significant things happened thereafter:

The people around missed to take notice of the fact that 'this donkey' (a non-expert, a non-technical fellow, a non-entity amidst us), happened to bray in the right tune, the right notes of music, to become harmonious with the receptivity of that 'entity' (Yes! When we seek to give life to that activity, enough for it to become a 'transaction' that would trigger a chain of reactions that are going to signify transfer of rights of meaningful activity of a few people, in the form of shift of merchandise across the continent, this transaction, even in its present form, as a digital file, may be rightfully looked at an entity!).

The second thing that they failed to appreciate is the concept of 'communicating' with inanimate designs which are 'effectively' a clear communication to us from the designers (as much as this planet, this universe, is a communication from its creator to us, its dwellers, its users, its by products!)....

The negation is in the nature of an 'omission' to take notice of something that does obligates us to do so!

...

The heritage passed on to us by our ancestors makes it obligatory on our part to accept it with a grasp of its intricacies and then to hand it over to the next few generations, making improvements too, if possible! (A typical example, a simple tantric diagram, or image becomes a live design when a small dot is placed at its centre! There was a whole movie to illustrate this 'point' ... A malayalam movie 'Atharvam'!... Now, due to mere lack of understanding, if the design is not going to be adequately appreciated, are we not effectively negating to respond to the communication of the ancients who had bequeathed a wonderful functional design created with lots of efforts, innovation and application of highest-level of human efforts!).

...

Coming to spiritual arena, 'negation' and its ramifications have been dealt with at great depths, and the tools, techniques and processes evolved to handle the unwinding of such accumulated 'negations' bear testimony to the enormity of its importance, and value, in spiritual terms!

Psn (21^st March, 2013)

Confident Confidant!

We can confide things with.... only a confidant about whom we are confident, and when that person is also self-confident! Confidence here includes several aspects, other than that privacy... The most important one being the open mind, followed by ever deepening perception, willingness of reciprocity, and a stable seal of unconditional mutual trust!... (That 'ever-deepening-perception' is the most comprehensive of all the terms.... it calls for an ongoing awareness, alertness, receptivity, etc!)...

...

That was my view of a confidant...

But when a question came up, asking for that source with whom we cross check our questions and queries (obviously, not the routine type of questions like :- a) what is 'the' time?, b) which bus goes to station, etc...)

And then, the asker did concede that 'service-tax' to the forum, which allowed hoisting such a question (and therefore that prefix of 'other-than-Yahoo'....)

The rest of the question, was what I felt intrigued with!....

I was least prepared to find myself giving out the answer that came out of me soon after reading that question! (And I was equally surprised to find the asker picking that answer of mine!)

...

I did require time, to decide whether it was worth sharing this question and the answer... but the words of my teacher came to my mind... those words, which was again an answer to my own question to my dear teacher : “Sir, when ever I find a question within me, and I wait to reach it to you, I find that the 'need' to ask gets extinguished, when I actually confront you?...!!!” (it is the 'need' that persuades or pushes the question to seeks its manifest form!!!)...

...

Confident confidant of yours,

psn(20^th March, 2013)

the question:

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130310035056AAchUCl

Other than Yahoo, who do you discuss your beliefs and thoughts with?

My answer:

Oh!
My own very self.. dear self!
(The most responsive, responsible, response-abled, alert, resourceful, receptive mind of mine!)...
When the mind is alert, and yet calm, relaxed, thought simply pour in... (Eureka was just that...
The falling apple revealed gravity, but if that mind were more calm, the tree of that apple growing upwards, defying gravity, would also have been noticed!!!)...
And then, Yahoo, who is who, etc.. is a matter of choice!

Default Mode!

'Default' is a word which carries contextual meaning... It was earlier used only for 'failure' (in default on a loan.)... 'Winning by default' is another interesting use.(The failure of one or more competitors or teams to participate in a contest)..

The most popular sense of its use today is : A particular setting or value for a variable that is assigned automatically by an operating system and remains in effect unless canceled or overridden by the operator...

Computer sense!!!

Computer Science may be beyond our reach, but not the computer sense!

Very fortunately, the basics and fundamentals of computers happen to be, to a large extent, a reflection of the logical aspect of our mind itself! (That 'large-extent'... was not the case hitherto, during the yester years... we brought upon ourselves so... because of the situation we created around ourselves in so many ways.... !!!.. The memory dependence, the reference to the memory at the drop-of-a-hat... etc.)....

...

It comes very handy to grasp the abstract concepts that do affect our spiritual growth.... (“It”... in the IT-sense, computer sense... the 'default' mode in us!!!)....

Our judgement about others usually ends up with our 'search' mode finding the default mode of that other person!... A reassessment has to be necessitated by the situation, and it has to be good enough to invoke a crisis-signal inside us!!! (Yes! Our very life-style has been inclining towards crisis-performance-only... instead of resorting to crisis-management due to unforeseen situation!)...

....

It is the 'default-mode' within us which is 'read' as our 'attitude', by others.... and when it is not that accurate, there is a bottle-neck in the relationship! This bottleneck might eventually turn into a strained relationship, drift in communication channels, stoic relationships etc....

....

Thus, even for the deft handling of material aspect of life, this default-mode in us which decides our reaction to the varied situations, has to be looked at, if we are going to do something about the quality of life.... Otherwise, our winning the competition of life might be solely by-default (absence of other competitors!... Whatever the reason... Ranging between sole inheritance to elimination of others by that political muscle power!)...

...

For spiritual purposes, the initial corrections are usually towards imbibing a healthy 'default-mode', just to ensure that there is some progress to feel motivated enough to be able to handle that 'breaking-point' in-case-of-need.... Otherwise, the best, the last, and the ultimate option, historically has been, to disengage that 'default-mode' itself !!! No replacement at all! (Such people are not available for others to judge, even with the help of astrology!.... A very difficult proposition to grasp, as well as to agree even.... not to 'think' of conceding!... But, if we can try to look at that spark of 'divinity' within us too, as present all over, universally... then it is not altogether impossible to look at the possibility of that divinity in its 'own mode' taking over the way we manifest ourselves thenceforth!)

By default yours,

psn (16^th March, 2013)

Time slips by...

Before time slips by....

I felt.... it is time...

that we share this kind of experience too...

here, on this spiritual forum....

Not all are going to subscribe to this concept even (even if there was an experience!)...

But still, it has a lot to do with spiritual aspect of life!

It so happened that I had a re-look at a question that I had answered a few years ago.

It is wonderful to know of such a possibility....

I was not surprised even, to note that the asker did not pick an answer (it might have even 'meant a sort of commitment to oneself', for that person, probably!)

...

Some of here are going to love it, (so I feel!)

Regards,

psn(14^th March, 2013)

Quote:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060920093608AAWaA6D

Question:

This is a strange childhood experience that happened to me, I'm looking for an explanation.?

I will never forget this, I was in first grade eating lunch on the playground (we always ate lunch outside). I looked down at my food for just a moment, and when I looked back up, EVERYONE WAS GONE!! Where there had been kids at every picnic table, everyone was gone, except for a little boy sitting at another table across the playground. He gave me a bewildered look as if he was wondering where everyone went to. I remember being worried that I would get trouble for not being in class, but I got up and walked into class and no one said anything and I never said anything either. This is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me and I have no explanation for it, but I will never forget it.

My answer:

Please try to look at it as new experience, it is not really strange, though it appears to be so !
When you "happen" to step out of 'time' unawares, you are perfectly in awareness, and yet time slips by.... The lunch time was over and everybody left to their respective classes. What seemed like just a moment for you may be the the rest of the lunch time.
To make this happen, people on spiritual path work with great single minded dedication, for perhaps many years !
Since it happened to you a bit unawares, or without your conscious effort, you could neither make anything out of it nor even try it anytime. ONE MORE THING, should have happened that day, the sleep must have come to you a bit late, or at least you would have noticed less of fatigue or extra freshness, vigour, lightness, for the rest of the day.
Even when it happens unawares, the benefits are immense.

Source(s):

Experience.

Are you Normal?

Not a safe question to even look at, when there are yet others around(looking at you, of course)!

The only people who are absolutely normal with this question is those who are at the two extremes of that 'normalcy!!!

Anyway,

I enjoyed looking at the question, yet again, afresh!

(That way, whenever the life-experience gets intense within me, the awareness about the non-verbal, abstracted-concept-form of this question also gets renewed, but de-novo style!).

I did not expect the asker to subscribe to the concept part of the question, which at once looks at the source of it(the question) objectively... but obviously, that might have happened so (my guess), when I look at the pleasant surprise that the patronage inclined towards 'my-say' about it!

(And, I feel a bit fortunate about that 'additonal details' part of the query!... It gave scope to delve into what I had to 'wedge', at the opportunity I got,...... to reach that ....... 'mind-of-the-asker'!!!)

Psn(14^th March, 2013)

quote:

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130310045756AAe7gnp

Have you ever wondered if you were normal?

What's the standard for normal?

My s/take:

Even for that normal BP (blood pressure), the surgery decided it (till then there was no standard of 'normal BP'),,,
Some kind of comparison is needed to decide the yardstick of normalcy...
Except when the mind becomes alert, calm and least active, not lost in activity, everything else is abnormal!

Faulty error, Erroneous Mistake!

What a caption!

Fault, error, mistake.... interchangeable words with very subtle difference, and seldom taken notice of! That is exactly the fault, error or mistake, when we 'fail' to(adequately) appreciate the language !

I was reminded of an acquaintance of mine, who was usually extra-cautious about the other person 'likely-to-miss' the emphasis.. and so, he used to say, 'Faulty error' and 'erroneous mistake' and things like that when he liked to soften the impact of some failure on his part! I used to repay him with 'extraneous error', just to let him know that not everybody is error-ridden enough, all the time, to miss the strategic advantage that he tried to gain using linguistic gimmicks!

From spiritual point of view, error(and its variables) begins and ends, perhaps with just the perception! Once the perception affords us (the being within), that clarity about such errors (and its cousins), then the choice rests with us, within us.... to do what is needed! The 'abrupt' and striking contrasts that we find in those Zen stories are ample evidences of the attempt to draw the attention of that less-alert-mind, towards such erroneous perceptions of abstract concepts, perpetuated over lifetimes, lifespans,.... whatever...! (And let me give something to un-nerve ourselves, those few of us who might be tempted to look at this proposition as some kind of 'fertile-imagination' of an idle mind.... “The traditional time-tested and well established practices of match-making mandates that horoscopes of a bride and groom have those 'fault-levels' matched appropriately to ensure a 'smooth-quarrel' to last a life time.... the technical names might be, 'paapa-saamya' or 'dosha-saamya'... “ the ancients called dosha or paapa to mean as 'faults', since they were too keen to maintain the awareness that wrong-identification with this gross body is the main fault!)

(Now, is it going to be too much, if we try to see, if our sight is a bit erroneous, when we are trying to pick faults with traditions that have stood the test of time, just because these healthy traditional prescriptions got encased into an erroneous name .... say for example, our own dear Hinduism? ... This is going to be a stupendous task... the vision-correction to 6-by-6 levels, from where ever we are right now!... The word 'correction' is itself not going to find some appeal, for some time! Because the 'correct' levels are not within our perception at all, in the first place, to afford us some kind of comparable parameters!!!... And those that are 'marketed' by gimmicks-men, are huge blocks themselves, to be avoided, not reached!!! These gimmicks-men are holding the fort of spiritual business, and the walls of their fort being our own fault-ridden, erroneous mistakes of remaining stuck to our own ideas about those abstract concepts!)

Do we need any further proof that this stuff might have come out of a 'double fault' failure in my erroneous mind which tried to mis-take the people around?

Erroneously yours,

psn(8^th March, 2013)

To liberate Education from Literacy!

I found myself drenched with joy to find somebody sharing a very 'first-hand' personal experience with teaching, and was able to clearly mention the role of 'trust' in the process of teaching-learning!

...

Obviously, such a person has to be also very generous with handing out a permission, 'just-like-that' to reproduce his opinion as a blog!

...

Here it is:

(bold fonts, italics, mine...)

quote:

“...Oh! pleasedo create a blog with some of these ideas and discussion about education system. u also in an earlier comment expresed similar opinion. By the way did u see this news-article today 
it implies a practical experiment implying similar adventurousness generating. I do not know at all Sugata Mitra. He seems to be doing very interesting experiment. 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/us-canada-n ews/NRI-education-pioneer-Dr-Sugata-Mitra-wins-1-m illion-TED-Prize/articleshow/18705008.cms

....

unquote:

The above was a response to my humble request thus:

I am almost tempted to copy paste it into a blog, and face the 'consequences'!!!
Now, I pray, I wish, that this string of comments should be preserved !!! (not the negative wish, 'should not be deleted'!!!)... 

The main quote is:

“Yr example is indeed very interesting narayanji and reflects yr insight. I enjoyed this occasional teaching.
There was another interesting aspect I observed. In USA undergraduate teaching is quite regulated in style. Course is almost completely pre-defined, even the book etc. One spends as much time at least in tutoring, helping students as in lecturing. Home work is given and regular quizzes, tests are given. But even in this regulated teaching a trust plays important role. teacher is trusted and also student. I remember a Tamil proverb, which I like very much -to some body climbing a coconut tree u can only help him with support till yr raised hands reach, after that it is the tree and him), I think it is important to also remember this while teaching. Perhaps because of this trust and also because of a general culture of adventure in USA one sees another phenomena often in USA (much more than India - I have confirmed this also with some others ).

Some times some students, there u can see that they do not at all follow method u taught nor what is given in all books, they may not have understood all aspects well but they are strong enough to develop there own methods and give proofs or calculations quite bizarre but quite right over all and logically also quite correct.

I think we have almost removed idea of trust in our education system to generate this kind of adventurous attitude very much needed to learn. We do not trust teacher- exam is set by some body else - nor student - more worries about cheating then actual learning- nor business and industry (who consume these students, we do not take their opinions at all). only people we trust is govt (their set rules have to be followed) and foreigners (course standards and system is set according to usa or european systems etc.)

We did have trust and much more in the past. We thought of teaching then, more as a process of enjoying together with the student and not some giving of knowledge etc. Even if we can bring back this shloka philosophy, which I like very much, and trust it implies, it will bring back a lot in our education system.
ॐ सह नाववतु ।
सह नौ भुनक्तु ।
सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।
तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Let us pray together to one who protects us both (the Teacher and the Student),
Let us enjoy together nourishment from that one,
Let us enjoy together with energy and vigour,
Let our Studies be enlightening, not giving rise to Hostility,
Om, Peace, Peace, Peace.”

unquote:

(I happened to 'forward' this quote above to a few youngsters, and I received an interesting feedback too!

I am tempted to quote a small portion of one of such feed backs...)

quote:

“While there are always few exceptions, it is true that in this country, honesty and integrity at this level is assumed  to be implicitly present at most places - including education and academics and even in common place activities like restaurants and grocery shops. After all this while, I'm not going to attribute blame on the the system or people in India for having developed a sense of mistrust with everyone and everything around them. I do not find it surprising that dishonesty is prevalent in India given the extent of competition for anything and everything, right down to survival. Right from groceries to earning a livelihood is extremely competitive, where only the fittest survive. When driven to a corner, it is instinctive to seek self-preservation by dropping honesty, trust and integrity. 

To quote an example from the above post, it is natural for a student to cheat in exams if he knows that his chances of survival are minimal if he doesn't do well in an exam. While in US (just to quote a country for concreteness), a student knows he will live and quite comfortably too without having to pass that examination. For most of us, the instinct of self-preservation has become a habit that we don't realize that we are often even dishonest with ourselves. Unfortunately, this is very common in teachers/professors/educators/philosophers in India. I find it often that I see someone making incorrect claims of knowledge on something, just driven by this instinct of self-preservation. It is even more painful to see that the aspect of self-retrospection is very low in most people. The fear that you'd find yourself lacking and thereby become useless or face imminent extinction in the competition, has made honest analysis of oneself almost impossible. 

Looking back at my earlier school days, I have been driven by the competition factor to say : 'Yes, I understand this' and 'I can/ should be able do this', when in reality, I have no clue on what is going on. So much so, that it is an everyday struggle for me now to come out honest with myself and say "I do not understand this" or "I am not doing this right" or "I can do this better". I knew I don't have to fight for my food, and therefore in my case, it became a habit at a level where I had to face competition. For example, beating the system for scoring high marks was a necessity for beating competition then. I'm realizing that it is happening even now, at a different level, without my awareness though - but that is really not any excuse to be dishonest.

If I find that with all insulation, protection and opportunities around me, I'm finding it hard to be honest within myself, I really do not find it surprising that honesty and trust is rare in India where day-to-day survival is a big chance for most people.  Since you had explicitly sent this note to me, and because I see students all around me all the time, and being a student myself - I think I had ventured my opinion here. Actually, no. I'm just writing this as a reminder for myself to be aware of my habit.”

unquote:

Source:

1. A very precious contributor to the rare kind of website : http://www.speakingtree.in/public/soumyasrajan
2. Comments at: http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/science-of-spirituality/attentiveness-alertness-acceptance-and-awareness
3. Feed back source: A very personal and closely associated youngster, through our personal emails.

psn (5^th March, 2013)

Attentiveness, Alertness, Acceptance and Awareness

Just these four happening at an enhanced level, and simultaneously, helps spiritual evolvement...

...

Does not matter whether it happens by chance or by the efforts of a proper guide...

The rest of it is already there, without any need to 'happen' afresh!

...

I try to see at what level, we can make a beginning for these four ...

Attentiveness—the sensory levels of perception its receptivity kept sharp.

Alertness—the domain of the mind, its activity kept subdued to the possible extent.

Acceptance—the fusion of body, mind and breath, and its extension, running into deeper levels of recognition of interdependence with everything, everybody, at experiential levels.

Awareness—the 'being' within, being allowed to 'be-a-witness' by the subdued self, the ego, resting and relaxing for a while...

...

Teachers look out for such rare occurrences, in that disciple...

...

Trust levels enhance these four to be present at greater intensity!

...

We use the expression, 'the cat is now out of the bag!'... but this time, the bag is already within a much larger bag(mind is expandable, like that 'Pushpaka-Vimana' of Ramayana story), with 'no where to go' for the cat... so, it would be very interesting to see what we are going to

'make-out-of-it'!

...

Regards,

psn(20^th February, 2013)

Concepts and Beyond!

The concept formation finds its source in the self-awareness, when it manifests as a mind... a thought-process....

When concepts influence us... and it does too... invariably... when it does, the problems that are seemingly irreversible, is what intrigues us most!

The most fascinating problem is about the desire to remember our own dear true self!!!

...

For a long time, I was hesitant to reproduce the answer given by me to a question on another forum... The essential part of the answer, as also the question was an interesting talk! I had the needless apprehension about being misconstrued to be an 'advertiser' for yet another 'ism'... Not really true!

Now , I am tempted afresh... to put this to you... and this time, I decided to go-ahead and tell it.. the issue, the topic is too precious for any unfounded apprehensions to hold me back!

Regards,

psn(13^th February, 2013)

The question, its link, answer etc...

(Please do try and listen to the talk on that 'youtube'.. link within the question)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101110072902AApaI7G

Is my desire to remember my true self just a concept of my mind?

Why do I feel like I have to dig deep to remember who I am if on the deepest level I never forgot?

This video really resonates on a deeeeeeep level:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niZLWHY5O…

if you don't have the patience to watch it all skip to around 7:00, but it is an awesome video so in my opinion it is all worth watching :)

Additional Details

lol...I am so confused though! :)

2 years ago

The video is:
"Assimilated into The Collective Delusion & The Imagined Journey Out ~ Mooji"
posted by Awakening Bridge

2 years ago

LOL I am absolutely torn between two answers. I am going to have to put this one to a vote.

Thank you all for your beautiful answers and willingness to share your point of view. Love and blessings!

2 years ago

Before I put this to a vote I must say that I am realizing the importance of being in the moment now. Because that IS where my true self resides. It currently is still hard for me, but I am going to keep on working on my meditation practice. Thank you.

My answer:

The problem is because of the very nature of that "true self".
We could give an indicative example. We cannot stretch the example too much, and too logically, because we are trying to compare something that is too subtle and intangible.
The example: Suppose we are in a closed room, totally dark, with only a torch with battery cells to illuminate. We can see every object in that room, except the 'make' of the two battery cells , which give the power to the bulb in that torch! The moment we open the rear end of the battery and take out those cells, the light is gone!

Something like that! The "desire" belongs to the mind. "to remember" also belongs to the mind. "concept" is formed or grasped only by a mind.
The mind operates from the power given by the 'true self'. This true self is a sort of 'pure witness'. When we slip into that mode of true self, we become 'awareness' itself! It cannot be captured as an image, vision, picture, etc to be stored in our mind's memory. Please see, everything that we know and remember is an "input" through sense organs, or sensory level of perception. Later our mind analyzes and forms a concept. For example, a child can be easily made to know a stool, bench, desk, chair, etc. It takes time to make that child learn that "furniture" is the name for the family of such items!
We are rooted in our body most of the time (we experience that "I am the body", especially when there is a deep pain or injury.)
Other times, we are rooted in our mind (we experience great joy, and "miss" to notice the pain sensation caused by a mosquito bite!)
Some times, we even talk of "my body" and "my mind" (now,..... here,... we have just a feeling of that "my" but no tangible form or an image to hold on to! Even this "my mind" is mostly a delusion, since it could be one part of the mind observing and witnessing the other part or other emotive aspect!)
This "true self" is at much deeper level than any "mind" can ever imagine. That is why spirituality is such a mystic affair! It is popularly known as 'pathless-path'. It calls for perception deeper than the perceptional levels! Pure experience of "true self" is not available as a thought at all!

It feels wonderful, to see such deep questions!

Inter-Viewed perception

When somebody asked about perception, the stupid, over-ambitious sly-eyed part of me, inside me jumped out of excitement .... 'hurrah'... here is somebody keen to know and we can share what we know.... spiritual aspect of perception..... (This joy did not last more than a few moments! The navigational dexterity, in reaching & looking at the 'details' of the query, acquired over.... over-half-a-decade, took the lead to demolish this joy, when it became clear that it was just about materialistic perception, about which the clarity was sought... and that too.... the seeking was by people who insisted on “inter—view” not just own view, or the view of others which could have a potential of becoming 'my-view'!)...

So, I proceeded to tone down the precept of perception to that extent, hoping that it might eventually 'pave the way' towards this one, which is .... at once my friend and enemy!

...

There were other answers, which were perhaps far better, and of wider acceptance, especially the one, quoted out of works from 'father of objectivism' , though it was a lady! (a matter of perception ... you see....!!!)! I am myself a great fan of that theory, and no doubt, its author too!

...

precepts persists only due to perception, perhaps.

psn(27^th January, 2013)

quote:

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130118125925AAhKsEK

What is perception? Please Kindly explain in detail and with examples.?

(Details of query):

What is perception and how it is related to organizational behavior?

My friends were given this topic in an interview and was asked to write something about it as essay. They told me that they are giving same topic to everyone right now. So am planning to go for interview. If this topic comes up I need to write it and for that I need to understand it....

I have googled but in most of the site incl. wikipedia they have used difficult words and statements so its difficult to understand.. So I want people's views on this topic

Inter-view Answer :

People who have organised the interview,
are aware that candidates are going to 'prepare' well, using google, copy/paste etc...
...
They are seriously interested in finding candidates who have deeper levels of perception, and thus, they also "know" perception in-depth... out of experience (experience is not job-experience... such skills are vouched by documents, no need for an 'interview' to test it..)... experience is 'life-experience'... When a human being is recruited, interpersonal skills are of great importance, because they (the hirers/recruiters) are trying to find out how well the candidate is going to be flexible, less resistant to productivity, very good at 'team-spirit', etc... For all this, tutoring on a day-to-day basis, is simply not practical... A resourceful candidate is going to be an asset.... Resourcefulness is directly relative/proportional to "PERCEPTION" capabilities... That is what they like to know... (If they are good at this skill themselves, they can 'smell' genuine, first hand knowledge about perception from the very body language, though the verbally spelt out answer might be a 'copy-paste'!!!
Best wishes.

Attentiveness!

We have lost our attention span, lost it to our ability to outsource almost anything, ... ... our attentiveness even, ultimately!!!
Sleep quota is getting reduced.... so also is qualitative sleep....
Years ago, there was a monitor, who was not even a human being!
He scales walls.... It, the monitor,.... scales walls.... so he was useful, to some extent, in contingent situations, otherwise, a monitor was left alone...
But when I heard of a monitor for the first time, he (a human), wielded a scale, instead of those innocent creatures who merely 'scaled' (I had a tough time, trying not to look at the class monitor of our school, as a lizard in the hands of our teacher who found it easy to keep us 'attentive' thus!)
....
For a long time, 'monitor' did not make any appearance in any guise, in my life...
...
Then came the gadgets.... Blood-pressure Monitor, sugar-level-monitor... and now this monitor, which keeps my attention riveted most of the time.... yes! This inflexible PC-monitor, is what I mean of course!
....
We hardly monitor ourselves now... Back to school days?..... “monitoring” is now heavily outsourced..... so the 'attentiveness' is drained/depleted/squeezed-out/whatever! ....
....
Attentiveness, linked in the 'army-way' (Stand, ATTENTION!).. stiff, rigid, but yes alert...
At ease.... (hardly relaxed even..... even during sleep!)
....
Attentiveness versus Relaxation... it is okay to outsource it as long as we can fund it.... but very unfortunately, this spirituality (the spirit business, ... so spirited it is...)... is inflexible about that outsourcefullness!
Attentively yours,
psn(18^th January,2013)



references:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_monitor

a popular legend has it that Shivaji's general, Tanaji Malusare, used a monitor with ropes attached for climbing the walls of the Sinhagad fort in the Battle of Sinhagad.

Inflexibility

Why did I not think of it earlier?

These handsets, mobiles are rigid, stiff, fragile, needing that attention, even to 'care'!!!

(Care can be possible without paying attention to something.... that is how ancients used to entrust kids at Gurukul, and ensure that kids become flexible to the situation, retaining the sanctity of the core of the being, and thereby, adhering to the purpose of human life!)...

...

Now when the batteries have become (or, are hopefully going to be) flexible.....

...

It is not needed to become stiff, handling those stiff mobile-handsets, for most of the waking hours!

The mobiles could henceforth lose their hitherto-inflexibility! (There is an image in that news item's link, web page!.. I suppose it is some hand held gadget, needing a battery.)

Quote:

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/korean-scientists-develop-worlds-first-bendable-battery/316270-11.html

“Korean scientists develop world's first bendable battery”

unquote:

...

When are we? ...

...

What is the impediment in us... Not the battery (that 'life'... ).... it is the subtle en-casing..... in-case we are interested!!... maybe.

Battered and yet yours,

psn(18^th January, 2013

Proof of re-birth, ill-Located!

Questions related to 'belief-related' concepts seldom evoke convincing answers... It is quite obvious....

But, when a 'clearly avoided-answer' appeals to the asker!

That was the surprise which appealed to me as an answerer!

....

(Usually, I do not attempt answering such questions, like those related to 'proof' of intangible, abstract, experiences which are not even available at sensory levels.... But, this time, there seemed to be a 'feel' of the asker's mind which clearly indicated that the seeking was more about the reason for such a question to crop up, rather than the looking-out-for answers! The asker seemed to know already, that those who are going to 'quote' events and instances are not really going to make any 'dent' in the minds of others who simply ask, out of that tickle of curiosity!)...

... ...

I looked at the location of the 'possible' proof ... (in a subtle way, forcing acknowledgment of the possibility that the issue-itself...of/about 're-birth' .... was too popular to be now dismissed as a 'myth'!)...... In those ancient fables, the very location of that rare herb which is going to cure that rare ailment that afflicted the 'princess' used to deter the 'aam-aadmi' from even 'thinking' about attempting to fetch it, and therefore, the wait was for that super-hero, who would benefit from unusual courage, extra-ordinary luck, benediction from destiny and all those things, and the reward was commensurate to the feat!... I felt, that the very mention of location, would deter any possible attention from a casual mind.... But it does not look like a casual mind, when the answer got picked!... The 'picking' of it seemed a reason good enough, to 'relocate' the answer here!...

...

It is up to us now to place it where it ought to be-long.... re-birth is a long-term-issue, 'after' all... yes, after-all... that is why perhaps, the longest journey ever, which ought to receive the highest preparation-priority, usually receives scant attention, till it is now-too-late!

....

The question, answer, and its link:

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130117002318AAuJlh6

Question:

Is there any proof that we will be reborn when we die?

Answer

If there is any proof, where can such a proof be?
Either it is an accurate prediction of the future, already available right now, and can be preserved for some future user to verify with actual happening.... (not of much use for us, for our own sake!)
Or,
Our own perception deepening beyond sensory levels, so that we 'see' (vision etc.)

(unquote:)

So.... 'What next'..... (about it, of course!)?

re-berthed, and therefore, yours,

psn(18^th January, 2013)

What is in it for me?

What is in this question, for me..... that it kept haunting me, every time I had to take a decision... is what intrigued me during a later part of my life! (Till then, my tiny brain wasn't even ripe to conceive of such queries!!)....

It was one of the quizzical ones out of many questions that used to crop up, when that 'watching' or witnessing of the mind got started... It was too early to blurt out the 'experiences', I felt... not that it was not interesting.... in fact, the spice in it, the humour in it got faded out when I now try to express it after so long a time! (The other questions were like,..... why am I like this? Why do some things affect me invariably... why am I not able to get myself to do, what I know as, I ought to be doing.... etc. All these questions 'seemed' to revolve around a common hub... It was not to be so! Each had a tiny and subtle hub underneath it, and just presented an illusion of a common hub, or a common disc/platform!)...

......

What is in it for me?.... (That ambitious shopkeeper keenly tries to observe the prospective customer, and tries to guess.... if his merchandise has been able to answer this very question within that customer.... If that customer's eyes happen to widen a little, or if it seems to linger on something for a fraction of a moment longer than that 'logical-scale'... the shopkeeper ought not to miss it, if he means business!)....

.....

“Good” nurses at mental asylum happen to 'manage' the inmates a little more easily, when they are very familiar with this query and its answers/choices that is within the reach of the inmate out of the data base stored in that inmate's memory!!!

....

A 'Win-win situation'... is a phrase, which declares what is in it for both....

.....

We can thus go on....

...

Please see.... there is something within us that decides as to... up to what extent we are going to become receptive.... so as to expand the list of items..... within us..... that would help us to 'tick' with what is available in that something in front of us, about which we are going to decide .... to deal with it or not.... after matching the 'what is in it for me'!... (The ash from burnt coal did not mean anything to anyone, till somebody could conceive that it is a very good raw material for bricks... that fly-ash-bricks... now so popular!... What is going to be there in ash? It is a mere residue of everything that is burnt down... was the popular 'way of looking at' it!).....

.....

The 'way we look at' things/everything-around.... seemed to matter!

(Oh! It is the same old problem of 'perception'... said my mind... but I got hold of myself... wait... there is a repetition trap.... the mind is repeating a dialogue... it is judging.... not open enough!)...

....

What if... what if I try to redefine myself?.... But how?... Changes, that I found people achieved, in their struggle to become amenable to the situation, ended up usually as mere 'cosmetic changes'.... Beyond a point they only added to their burden, of having to bear the superficial changes, and maintain that 'changed appearances'... (the consequences of such cosmetic efforts are of huge magnitude and impact... but not a subject matter of discussion right now, here).

....

So, redefining has to be at core level.... Now comes the 'cruel' part of the travel... Travel, getting cruel?.... Yes, perhaps... it is not just a sight seeing... it is about 'sighting-the-seeing' tools.... and so, anything that is hindering has to be simply chopped off... mercilessly!

....

It is about identifying something within us.... that can get identified with anything outside, but avoiding that 'trying-to-seek anything identical in it (rather, without even 'seeking' to match anything ... no match making... no force matching... no logic... )... In a rather fuzzy expression, it is about becoming 'one-with-it'.... There is an advantage, and which is also a 'check' (a crude check), as to whether we are doing it right.... there is no 'action' warranted ... in the sense... action is not dictated by the mind.... action simply happens... it flows forth.. if needed(by the situation)!...

.....

The whole idea of trying to look at why we are persuaded to answer the question within us (what is in it for me).... is that ..... as we try and maintain awareness of this.... we would slowly happen to look at ourselves with that 'witnessing aspect' ... through that witnessing aspect, rather... which is considered to be of great significance from spiritual point of view.... it triggers into operation an inward-process, may be initially a bit subtle even to 'feel' or know about it... but in due course, we can clearly see that 'engrooving' of it.... this process is a kind of multi-tasker... it demolishes the mind-blocks, expands the range of perception from within, and does many such things on a 'need-basis', leaving us free on a 'need-to-know-basis'...!!!

...

As a sort of 'logical' exercise... please see, there are a few people about whom, we are unable to guess... as to why they like do what they are doing... as to why they are the way they are right now... or.... a very simple question would be ... “what is in it for them?”!!!.. If such people seem to attract our attention towards them (for any reason what-so-ever)... then, this 'process' is in its 'invocable form' right now, within us... for sure.. and it is a question of our sustained effort at it.... no risks what so ever.... no cost-based-efforts even... the benefits are immense.... over a period of time, this question 'what is in it for me' would get dissolved, paving the way for the other kind of dissolution!

.....

disillusioned-ly yours,

psn(11^th January, 2013)

Thought Verification

I felt like verifying a “thought-of-the-day”....

Not mine...

It belongs to a great being... “Shri Lao Tzu”.....!!!

...

Quote:

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”

Source:

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/speakingtree/spiritual-thought/lao-tzu-115542#commentlist

How to verify?

There was a problem with the word 'deep'....

...

I was sure, I am yet become good at 'deep'.. love, whether it is about offering or receiving... after all, I am one of the 'aam-aadmi' (mango people)... trapped in so many problems, which never allows me to focus only any emotion deep enough...

.....

Anyway, I was at once reminded of two noble people.... One of them 'lost his head' to others in the process! It was taken by force, as a 'trophy' after brutally mutilating the bodies of both of them...

...

I had no doubt that they loved me “deep”.... very deep.... in the process, they offered their lives trying to protect me!... And I can clearly see, they became courageous, in the process of offering love!...

...

The other part.... there are many more waiting to offer their lives similarly.... (I heard a rumour in that idiot box that a few of those, waiting to offer their lives, refused to eat, as a protest against the brutal mutilation by the enemies, and..... ).... When I look at the two who offered their lives, and the others who are inspired, instead of becoming scared, I could experience having 'felt' and received strength!!!

....

A costly verification indeed!... But, I am fortunate, that I did not miss this chance to look at 'deep' love though it was deep only from those two, and yet others in uniform (I am yet to evolve to that level!.. But I am determined to do my best!)..

...

Now,

I wonder how that thought would look, if I tried the same sentence, replacing the word love, with the word, 'Trust'... !

(Oh! Trust is going to make the problem tougher for me... to imbibe, and try offering trust, thus offering strength, and experiencing courage!)

....

Deeply yours,

psn(11^th January, 2013)

Entertainment

Entertainment.... or .... perhaps by now.... even the 'seeking of it'... seems to have occupied the quality time of our life so much that.....

Maybe.... it is worth..... maybe it is time, that we should be taking a look .... at how we have come to view it.... and as to how much this 'view' has affected our very well-being!

....

A working parent.... seems to be satisfied when that parent provides wholesome entertainment to one's 'own' child/baby...... of having done (fulfilled) one's duty...... After all, it takes a lots of effort to entertain someone... it is about providing 'quality time'!!! Even the meaningless noises that is used to communicate with the baby seems to convey only some sort of cajolery! Utterly needless, but eventually ends up sending across a message that a parent is 'meant' to entertain a kid at all times!

...

A guest to our home 'expects' to be well-entertained.... and this expectation is directly proportional to the relativity with the host!... Any lack of it or a deficiency will be deemed as 'neglect of relationship itself!'

...

A visiting dignitary is 'provided' with wholesome entertainment, only to keep his time spent with us fully occupied....

....

Somewhere the kings used to spend more and more of their time in entertaining themselves, and the noblemen around took it as a cue, to follow suit... Generations of all those who could afford it, took it as a mark of nobility to keep themselves entertained all ways....... & all the ways!

....

This entertainment 'value'... has perhaps permeated deep inside us!

(The idiot-box, PCs, i-Pods, ear-plugs, .... the bulk of 'gadgets' find the 'entertainment' quotient to be the real criteria to find good marketability, stable market-share... the manufacturers of it, become the richest corporate in least time!)

....

Even a gangrape is good enough to entertain us...

Even the news about a gangrape is good enough (when we lack the courage to do “something about it.....” .... that 'something-about-it' can be interpreted to suit our liking.... that is exactly 'the entertainment' about it! )

Sadism.... (if it is not entertainment, if it is not about maintaining a Uniqueness in seeking of entertainment... then what else is it?)....

....

Sensational news.... has better appeal .... entertainment quotient in it?

...

Brilliant youngsters, well accomplished at academics.... find it too difficult to spend a couple of days at a remote village, where there is 'nothing-to-do'.... (they find it 'full-of-action' holidaying at some posh resorts, sea-beach hotel... etc)... There are some elders at those desolate villages, who are too old , too feeble to take up any productive work... they do not know boredom... yet when we look at them... we blink first... they seem to show infinite patience to just sit comfortably for eternity!

....

Whenever our mind asks.... “What is there in it for me?”.... please see, if it is a seeking of some kind of entertainment.... in a subtle way even.... there is something that is taking us away from the main-stream of the 'natural way of our being'... It is just a question of time, when something called boredom would take over, when we are supersaturated with entertainment, and then psychosomatic disorders will be the order-of-the-day!

Entertainingly yours,

psn (9^th January, 2013)

Why do we cry?

Such a simple question.....

Simple looking at least.....

Now, I tend to look at it so.... when we find that the bulk of the people 'become' emotional first, a bit at least, and then they attempt the answer..... In doing so thus, they miss that reasoning.... the reasoning which needs the backing of logic more than emotion, for this question, in the 'present-form'... (“present-form”.... is a politically/diplomatically convenient phrase, to get rid of a 'situation' .... 'for the present'..... thanks to politicians, who taught us this phrase, and more importantly, the 'use of it'... when they deal with all 'quota-related-bills'!!!)..

...

The present form of this question is simple....

'why do we cry?'.....

(Now we have a proof even.... about this question being simple, and logical.... That hero of the 'hit' film/movie... The Terminator—Judgement Day... the Robot, asks this question in three 'forms'... to 'show' emphasis on logic....

1)What happened to your eyes?

2)Why do you get tears?

3)Now I know why you cry!....

(the third one is not a question, but a statement, a declaratory statement, the intention being a noble one.... you see... the learning curve is on and on and on, unlike we humans... it is a robot!!! this statement is a seeking, 'just in case'..... Just in case, this robot 'calculates'.... just in case I am wrong... let that kid tell me, 'why else do I cry?' ... Not that this kid is likely to 'volunteer' that additional 'why-else'.... Aah! These humans.... they lack that lustre with logic.... they struggle to give even the primary/priliminary reason of 'why'... are they going to tell me 'why else'...? ...)

...

The question can be simplified further, if we ask the other-side-of-the-coin.... “How are a few of us able to control crying?” .... (Due to old age, this control dwindles... debilises... or... whatever...!... the word is 'debility', but “debilises” adorns the 'detached-look-at-own-self' and our physical frame better!)...

...

So that was the question.

Psn( 2^nd January, 2013)

The question:

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121230192801AAqioZb

Why does a person cry ?

My Answer:

Very specifically,
it is due to the inability to contain the sudden surge of energy, caused due to emotion...
(Many people avoid crying easily, though they too feel sorrow etc...
As a person approaches old age, this person notices that crying happens a bit out of control!...)
..
Crying is not related ONLY to sorrow/sadness/etc... (right now, pain/sorrow/hurt is the emotion that we feel deepest, that is why most people connect it to sadness/sorrow/etc... We do have tears of Joy!)