Paradoxically speaking
I Don't know myself
The Hindus (I am one myself) have done a lot of research into the inner, invisible, non-cognizable Self.
And, they discovered a lot of facts about this thing called, the inner self.
One of them is - that the inner self is all over the universe.
Another is - my inner self is - none other than your inner self - which is the same as that of all the Christians. Muslims, Buddhists, Jains, Jorashtrians, Zews, the communists, the Hindus and whoever else exists in the world.
Which means - when I and my wife are quarreling - my inner self only is quarreling with me.
When Osama Bin Laden plotted to bring down the world trade centre - it was actually George Bush's inner self which was plotting from within Osama Bin Laden. And Osama was plotting to kill a few thousands of Americans, who are his OWN VERY inner self.
It is much like - my own teeth happily biting away my own little finger.
Why on earth do I do such stupid things?
Why don't I know that I am biting away my own little finger?
That is the paradox.
I have been reading about this stuff for last three years. The Hindus call them UPANISHADS. They are Master pieces of logic, investigation, inquiry, discovery, invention and what not - of science. They call it the the inner science. The ostentatious name they give to it is - ATMA JNANA - or Self Knowledge.
In very simple terms, their final discovery is - you are yourself the God. There is no other God. There is in fact no God other than You.
What the Hell is this discovery? The communists also say - there is no God. Many non-communists also say, there is no God. So, what is the Big deal ?
The Big Deal is - there is God. And, that God is none other than YOU !
You have ample,total, undeniable, irrefutable, unbelievable, un-arguable proof for it.
It is like the onion. You must peel of one layer after another. When all outer layers are peeled of - you arrive at the God. And, that God is YOU!
Each layer is called - a layer of ignorance. or Maya! or, Avidya.
It is like finding out after a laborious peeling off of the layers of my foolishness, that I am a fool - and that I don't know it.
But, once I know it, I become the wisest on earth; wisest in the Universe.
I am one of the Polar opposites right now. I will become the other, when I know this.
The process of this knowing is very simple.
Try to know - what You don't know - from what you know.
Proceed from the known to the unknown - and know what you don't know.
Let's start with the simplest. The physical body.
You are a Body which is visible, touchable, smellable, tastable and somewhat audible too.
Therefore it exists.
But, what Exists?
A head, a Trunk, 2 hands, 2 legs. What else?
I would say - I possess..., a heart, 2 lungs, pancreas, blood, nerves, veins, arteries, digestion system, excretory system, thinking system, feeling system - and so many computer-like systems inside.
You will agree. You will also say that you also have all these in your body. But wait.
What on earth have you ever, actually seen in your own physical body? Have you seen or touched any one of these blessed organs of yours? How do you know they exist?
Factually, I have not seen a darned thing in my Body - except the OUTER MOST LAYER OF MY SKIN!
Somebody found the other day, that he didn't have a kidney inside. This was stolen, when his Appendix was operated upon. But, he didn't know.It is like - He didn't know that his Bank account was short by a million dollars / rupees, until he made his next withdrawal.
I and you know nothing of our bodies in reality - except the outermost layer of our skin. We make lot of assumptions. This is there. That is there. These things do exist inside. These things actually work inside. And so on. One day, Doc says, man, your pancreas are refusing to work; so what shall we do? Well,what? whatever he says. World over, Docs and Pharmacologists etc - are minting money over non-working pancreas.
Many things inside the Body go out of order very frequently.
Buddha knew it well after his enlightenment. He asked an old lady - please go and find out a person who never fell ill and get me some Mustard seeds from him - and I will make your dead son alive. The lady happily went; but came back unhappily that there was no such person in the town. Buddha asked her - be happy with that news.
So, let us all be happy - that not only me and you - but my neighbor (and Yours) also falls sick periodically. That's great news.
If things in your house are stolen - remember - you are not alone - there are many others, whose houses themselves are stolen. If you lose your Job, remember, there are thousands of others, who lost bigger Jobs and fatter salaries. If your wife divorces you - ditto. if your husband deserts you , ditto. If your daughter goes away without telling you - ditto. If your company goes bankrupt - ditto. If you get aids, cancer, dengue or whatever - you are never alone in any of these things. If you die - ditto.
There is nothing in the world which happens to you exclusively. You are never alone in anything - good or bad. Just that - You know it now - and you can live happily hereafter.
Know that You don't know. Knowing that you don't know - makes you know.
Upanishads are very clear on this point. They say categorically - the one who thinks he knows, doesn't know. The one who thinks he doesn't know, knows.
Whoever knows this much has all the possibility to know. Do You?
This is the point. it is not a question of being humble. Humility is EGO IN REVERSE GEAR. Humbleness is ditto. A child is not humble, nor does it practice humility. It knows that mother and father know better. When it grows - this knowledge, that it doesn't know, goes up in smoke.
Upanishads say - know that you don't know. Once you know this, you will know.
The desire to know - brings you the knowing. Nature brings to you or takes you to - your Guru. Then, starts knowing. It continues, until you begin to feel, you know. That again makes you practice Humility, the ego in reverse gear. You will start saying, i know nothing at all - to everybody, while internally feeling that, I know much better than all these fellows who are listening to me.
You really do not know yet. That's true, though you only say it but don't believe it. When you know THIS, the knowing starts again. This continues until you really know and know that you know.
We said that, all that we really know a little about - is the outermost layer of our skin. That too is not true.
All of us - without exception - have not seen - even the outermost layer of our skin - completely. Test for yourself. When have you seen the Back of your body? Your massage therapist may have seen and touched most, if not all, parts of your skin. But have you? You haven't.
This is not possible also. For the simple reason that, every day, your skin is losing millions of cells - and is manufacturing millions of new cells - all without you permission - express or implied.
What you have seen last week -is not your today's skin. That was long gone. The snake loses once in a quarter or whenever the new skin has formed completely below the old skin. But, You and I do it - all the time.
Sorry. I am wrong WE don't do it. Our skin does it all the time. Nothing ever seeks our permission - either to work, or stop working. Your heart, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, digestion, excretion - nothing happens with your permission - not even with your knowledge.
All that we can do is - eat,drink,bathe,run,walk, sing,talk, see, hear etc.
Even in these - many things happen unconsciously. You eat when you feel hungry - that is when the inner body organs urge you to put some food into them. You drink - at the behest of these inner organs. You bathe - somewhat at your choice. But, if you don't, someday, you will feel compelled. So, it is just periodicity. Every thing happens because of independent, inner organ demands.
You wake up - in the morning. That's what you feel. No. Not at all. You don't. You are woken up - by an unseen force.
Likewise, You don't sleep. No. you don't have that choice too. You are put to sleep. By an unseen force.
Who is working inside you? Who is doing all these things inside you?
Not you. You don't fool yourself saying I am working my inner organs. You don't. On the contrary, they are making you work for them. You are an almost helpless slave to them.
Who the hell are they - that are making you work for them - all day - all the year round - all the life - to keep you alive - to keep themselves alive? Who are they?
There is a consciousness - there is an independent being in there - and if you want to call him God, you are free to do so - because, he is the controller of You - and YOU are controlled by him.
When you feel the urge to urinate and defecate - Please see, know and understand that - all that happened in you that resulted in this nonsense called Urine etc - and now, its ejection - none of them happened with your consent or your knowledge. You ARE A SLAVE to some thing inside you.
When you love, or make love, there again, don't think you love freely, on your own, with your free and independent will, because of the rights given to you under your country's constitution. It is nonsense again. You are acting as a slave - to a different urge inside you. Somebody rapes. somebody loves. Small differences. But, FREE WILL - There is nothing like that in any of these.
You don't grow a single hair or nail with your free will. Not even President Obama can do this - despite beating Romney in a grueling contest.
The Xs and Ys in all this are - that - You don't know anything about what you see - as your body.
If that is the case, with what you see, what is the case with what you don't see - that is, your mind, your thinking, your feeling ????
Its a horrible mess - up in your mind. We will deal with it later.
But Know - that You don't Know - and be happy that you don't know - for - you will know - only when you know that you don't know.
That's Good news !
Paradoxically speaking.
Yours
(v.vijayamohan)
