ENLIGHTENMENT

ENLIGHTENMENT

Siddhartha, became Gautama the monk after a period of immense personal and spiritual turmoil and tribulation. He was then hailed as the Buddha; the compassionate one, who had a deep insight into the eternal truth. He went on to propagate the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold path for the benefit of mankind.

Siddhartha was the son of the Sakya king Suddodhana and queen Maya. As per the Buddhist traditions, Maya had an astonishing dream in the amphitheatre of her mind. She was led by a group of four Devas to Lake Anotatta. Here she was bathed by the celestial beings, attired with heavenly clothes, bejewelled and suitably scented. Then there appeared a white elephant in possession of a white lotus and after three circumambulations entered Maya’s womb.

The elephant without doubt was a manifestation of the big mind as against the small or limited mind. Only an individual possessing a big mind would be in a position or status to attain enlightenment.

Maya was to cast her mortal self a mere ten days after the birth of her son, who was then reared by Mahaprajapati Gotami, her sister.

Gautama upon attaining enlightenment remained in silence for days together, till he was implored by the angels to spread knowledge and wisdom to humanity. In due course the prescient one spread the gospel of truth.

According to sage Ashtavakra, enlightenment occurs when humans truly reside in their hearts. The heart is synonymous with the present moment. That the present moment is inevitable is an important aphorism propounded by H. H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living. The sagacious Ashtavakra, like other Masters also deliberated on the present moment. He equates it to the point of inflexion where the human mind neither oscillates between the predicaments and botherations of the past nor gets discomposed or bedevilled by the predilections of future.

The holy grail of seekers is enlightenment, a state of mind which does not have any wants, wishes or desires. It simply remains in the present moment.

Human desires, wants and cravings are certain emotions which stray the mind from the present moment.

Cravings are symptomatic of fears. Fears and desires are akin to Siamese twins. The unholy axis of innumerable desires and fears need to be dismantled and annihilated to indeed reside in the heart so that the mind resides is the present moment.

No mountebank, but only a genuine Guru or a Sadhak, through relentless and resolute power of observation, continually observing the breath can gain the insight (as imparted in Vipassana breathing technique and in Sudarshan Kriya) to attain certain powers of Siddhi/ alacrity and sharpness. In such a plane the mind becomes a perpetual witness to perceive the eternal truth. But this exploration of the human mind is to be undertaken unflinchingly, diligently and with utmost humility and modesty.

The mind of a witness or that of a spectator is indeed robust and sanguine. He acquires an immense repository of knowledge which perhaps cannot be acquired by merely reading the scriptures. Reading the scriptures mechanically often leads to regurgitating of Mantras without understanding the depth of their meaning.

This however does not imply that a seeker or a person caught in the whirlpool of misadventure should not attempt reading holy books, scriptures or inspirational literature, as for millions it acts as a lifeboat and succour.

Thus, from an esoteric or even a simplistic point of view what can we term as being as an unalloyed and unfeigned witness?  It can be termed as an individual or a seeker who treads into a deep forest of knowledge and wisdom which is shrouded by mist, yearning for more yet making no effort to seek anything additional.

Likewise, it is an intense or extreme experience wherein an individual perceives the truth, the divinity or almighty God, yet remains oblivious of the presence, not because he is an ignoramus but because there is no desire in the mind to examine it, there being immense fulfilment in the heart. It is an experiential feeling of detachment.

Students of micro-economics are taught that the price of goods and services is determined at the intersection point of the downward sloping demand curve and the upward sloping supply curve.

Similarly, a model can be constructed where we can assume all past experiences as a downward sloping curve and future expectations as well as perceived demands to be an upward sloping curve. The point of inflexion can be termed as the state of fulfillment.

Several years ago, lived a king, acquiring the tenets of Zen from a learned Master. He enquired, ‘Is it true that the very mind is Buddha?’ The Zen Master mulled for a while and replied that if he agreed to the proposition of his princely tutee, the eternal truth would be revealed without the latter really having grasped the reality. If he contradicted it, that would tantamount to contradicting the fact.

A few days later, the ever-inquisitive king asked the enlightened one as to where the soul migrates upon death. The Master again contemplated and replied that he was unaware of the facts, which astonished the disciple. The Master pacified his distraught student, stating that he was ignorant of the facts as he had not cast away his mortal self.

Thus, the king hesitated to ask any further questions which his mind could not comprehend. Sometime later the Zen Master felt compassionate towards his tutee. He struck the floor with a stick, which startled the king and through an experiential feeling he attained enlightenment. No matter how much Sadhana or Tapas a seeker puts in, it is only the grace of the Master that obliterates Karma and provide the glimpse of enlightenment.

This happens only when the seeker sublimates his ego and the voluble and cannonaded mind quietens. This is the state of being in the present moment – which leads towards enlightenment.