(1) RECOGNIZE THE SUFFERING
The world is a mixture of things that seems to defy explanation. There are so many questions without a convincing answer. The world is full of duality of Success/failure, Love/hate, Fame/Infamy, Good/Evil etc. The experiences that one has is not always what is desired.
why so? Why cannot everything be in plenty? Why is the world Unfair at times? Why is there war, crime? Why is there a partiality?, How big is the Universe, what exists outside the Universe, are there aliens? How come my honest, great efforts do not produce the desired result? questions of this nature are endless. All of us have them.
The set of questions will vary as many as there are individuals. Whether it is knowledge, or material possessions, or achievements, we are all in some specific level. some are in the negative and want to just get to that Zero mark. Some are in the Zero and want to get into positive territory. Some are very well into the positive, but are having difficulty in handling the infinite possibilities.
No matter how much we achieve there is still a desire. And the trouble is we all feel a lack of happiness due to such experiences and more so with the lack of an explanation. Most of us settle into the attitude "Life's Like that" and use some kind of temporary sedative such as entertainment, travel, other such experiences, more so to take the mind off the problem, so we can live to face another day.
First step is to recognize the existence of such a problem and ponder over it. The fact that you are reading this implies you are searching for Joy which means you sense a lack of it and hence you are already in Step 1:) You can list all the questions and issues that are bothering and preventing you from being Joyful.
(2) ASSUME AN EXPLANATION
Assume that there is in fact such an explanation. Let us assume there is a complete and convincing explanation that answers all our questions absolutely correctly. Please be very clear that we are "assuming" the existence of such an explanation. So we need not worry about validating it at this point.
Now.. it is hard to abstractly assume the existence of something without knowing some details. For this only purpose of ‘helping us assume’, let us take the theory called K-Theory.
What is K-theory? All human beings are engaged in action all the time. some actions are good, some are bad, some are neutral. Actions that result in desirable situations for others are good, that which results in undesirable situations for others are bad. rest of the actions are neutral. All good and bad actions are accumulated. so says the K-Theory.
This accumulated K has a role to play in the result of all our actions. apart from the effort we put in, the accumulated K is factored in, when the result is produced. This somewhat explains why there is no direct relationship between effort and effect. so somebody who simply did not touch the book gets a high score. we have an explanation to this...well.. somewhat.
We ask what about new born babies which have serious health problems? how come I am not born to a King? answer according to K-Theory is, there are multitude of births, and the good/bad K gets accumulated across the births. and K from past births play a role in the present. OK.. this is logical and sounds OK.
Also our actions and the results will create preferences or like/dislike which also gets accumulated and which drives us into action. preferences create desire, desire results in action, since the successful fulfillment of a desire seems to give us a very desirable experience called happiness. since this experience is not permanent, we are constantly engaged in action. so goes the K-theory.
Now we may ask what makes people different? why do different people act differently in exact same situation? Do we have an explanation for that? Yes we do. That is explained by the A-E-M Theory. Again, this is only an assumption.
So what’s the deal with AEM Theory? Everything in the world is made up of three ingredients, Aura, Energy and Matter. Each has its own characteristic. People including their body and mind are made up of varying combinations of A-E-M. Also this combination keeps changing all the time. It depends on food we eat, the time of day etc. And this results in varying behavior among various people. This is what we mean when we say "that is his nature". Application of this theory does seem to give us a very good explanation for all day to day events in life.
But we need to still remember this is only an assumption. so no question of what is the proof that K-theory/AEM is true.
(3) I AM NOT THE BODY AND HENCE I CANNOT SUFFER
Now that we have got an explanation, let us see how it can help me regain my happiness. I understand the K-theory, it seems to be a working explanation. But it does not make me any happy.
If I am beggar, I still suffer thinking why should I commit such bad actions and suffer like this today?. The answer to that lies in the part of the assumed K-theory which says every single person undergoes countless, if not endless number of births.
This implies that the person who gets born, grows, lives, becomes old and dies, is reborn again. Reborn again with a different brand new body and mind. because every time someone is born, it is always a very young baby with a fresh mind without any recollection of the past.
So what does this mean? the person is not the body nor the mind. and all our sufferings of duality, are related only to the body and mind. Success is associated either with the body as in a physical feat such as an Olympic medal, or the mind, as in getting a Nobel prize. A person with lots of friends and one without any suffers mentally. so there is the mind suffering not the person. applying this on all sufferings, and all situations that provided undesirable experiences will clarify that the person is not suffering. Also, a person will be born a king in another birth even though he is a beggar in this.
Now let us not forget that all of this nicety is still hanging on the assumption that the K-theory is indeed true.
The world is a mixture of things that seems to defy explanation. There are so many questions without a convincing answer. The world is full of duality of Success/failure, Love/hate, Fame/Infamy, Good/Evil etc. The experiences that one has is not always what is desired.
why so? Why cannot everything be in plenty? Why is the world Unfair at times? Why is there war, crime? Why is there a partiality?, How big is the Universe, what exists outside the Universe, are there aliens? How come my honest, great efforts do not produce the desired result? questions of this nature are endless. All of us have them.
The set of questions will vary as many as there are individuals. Whether it is knowledge, or material possessions, or achievements, we are all in some specific level. some are in the negative and want to just get to that Zero mark. Some are in the Zero and want to get into positive territory. Some are very well into the positive, but are having difficulty in handling the infinite possibilities.
No matter how much we achieve there is still a desire. And the trouble is we all feel a lack of happiness due to such experiences and more so with the lack of an explanation. Most of us settle into the attitude "Life's Like that" and use some kind of temporary sedative such as entertainment, travel, other such experiences, more so to take the mind off the problem, so we can live to face another day.
First step is to recognize the existence of such a problem and ponder over it. The fact that you are reading this implies you are searching for Joy which means you sense a lack of it and hence you are already in Step 1:) You can list all the questions and issues that are bothering and preventing you from being Joyful.
(2) ASSUME AN EXPLANATION
Assume that there is in fact such an explanation. Let us assume there is a complete and convincing explanation that answers all our questions absolutely correctly. Please be very clear that we are "assuming" the existence of such an explanation. So we need not worry about validating it at this point.
Now.. it is hard to abstractly assume the existence of something without knowing some details. For this only purpose of ‘helping us assume’, let us take the theory called K-Theory.
What is K-theory? All human beings are engaged in action all the time. some actions are good, some are bad, some are neutral. Actions that result in desirable situations for others are good, that which results in undesirable situations for others are bad. rest of the actions are neutral. All good and bad actions are accumulated. so says the K-Theory.
This accumulated K has a role to play in the result of all our actions. apart from the effort we put in, the accumulated K is factored in, when the result is produced. This somewhat explains why there is no direct relationship between effort and effect. so somebody who simply did not touch the book gets a high score. we have an explanation to this...well.. somewhat.
We ask what about new born babies which have serious health problems? how come I am not born to a King? answer according to K-Theory is, there are multitude of births, and the good/bad K gets accumulated across the births. and K from past births play a role in the present. OK.. this is logical and sounds OK.
Also our actions and the results will create preferences or like/dislike which also gets accumulated and which drives us into action. preferences create desire, desire results in action, since the successful fulfillment of a desire seems to give us a very desirable experience called happiness. since this experience is not permanent, we are constantly engaged in action. so goes the K-theory.
Now we may ask what makes people different? why do different people act differently in exact same situation? Do we have an explanation for that? Yes we do. That is explained by the A-E-M Theory. Again, this is only an assumption.
So what’s the deal with AEM Theory? Everything in the world is made up of three ingredients, Aura, Energy and Matter. Each has its own characteristic. People including their body and mind are made up of varying combinations of A-E-M. Also this combination keeps changing all the time. It depends on food we eat, the time of day etc. And this results in varying behavior among various people. This is what we mean when we say "that is his nature". Application of this theory does seem to give us a very good explanation for all day to day events in life.
But we need to still remember this is only an assumption. so no question of what is the proof that K-theory/AEM is true.
(3) I AM NOT THE BODY AND HENCE I CANNOT SUFFER
Now that we have got an explanation, let us see how it can help me regain my happiness. I understand the K-theory, it seems to be a working explanation. But it does not make me any happy.
If I am beggar, I still suffer thinking why should I commit such bad actions and suffer like this today?. The answer to that lies in the part of the assumed K-theory which says every single person undergoes countless, if not endless number of births.
This implies that the person who gets born, grows, lives, becomes old and dies, is reborn again. Reborn again with a different brand new body and mind. because every time someone is born, it is always a very young baby with a fresh mind without any recollection of the past.
So what does this mean? the person is not the body nor the mind. and all our sufferings of duality, are related only to the body and mind. Success is associated either with the body as in a physical feat such as an Olympic medal, or the mind, as in getting a Nobel prize. A person with lots of friends and one without any suffers mentally. so there is the mind suffering not the person. applying this on all sufferings, and all situations that provided undesirable experiences will clarify that the person is not suffering. Also, a person will be born a king in another birth even though he is a beggar in this.
Now let us not forget that all of this nicety is still hanging on the assumption that the K-theory is indeed true.
(4) WHO AM I?
Having established (based on the assumption) that I am not the body/mind. the natural question now is to find out Who am I? So far we have been just creating a sequence of statements based on an assumption.
This is a practical step, which is similar to a science experiment. This has to be performed. Most of us assume we are the body. some do think they are their cars, they are their beautiful home, they are their Country etc. Let us begin at the body, since it is a reasonable starting point.
Am I the body? my body changes from childhood to old age, I can get some of the parts replaced, and so on. yet since I have a distinct feeling of myself in spite of these changes, and since I 'observe' such events happening to the body, I must be independent of the body. Hence we can conclude I am not the body
Am I life? Blood is circulating and I am aware of it, so I am not the flow of blood, heart is beating I can observe it, I am not the heart beat, I cam observe my breath and hence I cannot be my breath. and so on.. so I must be independent of all these. Hence we can conclude that I am not the life.
Am I the mind? Thoughts of indecision, and likes and dislikes etc keep rising all the time. Do I like this?, Do I hate this?, should I do this?, should I do that?, thoughts based on impulse etc.. All these thoughts constitute the mind. But since I am able to observe them I must be independent of them. Hence we can conclude that I am not the mind
Am I the intelligence? Thoughts that make decisions, conclusions, inferences and plans in a sequence etc. constitute our intelligence. Since I am able to observe such thoughts rising , I should be independent of them as well. Hence we can conclude that I am not the intelligence
Am I the Happiness experience? Certain situations, actions and events results in us experiencing happiness. But I am aware of me having such an experience at certain times and not having such experience at certain other times. Hence I am independent of this experience. Hence we can conclude that I am not the happiness experience.
We can continue this on and on, and we will conclude that Since I am independent of the observable/perceivable I am able to observe. and hence I cannot be anything that is observable/perceivable.
Only a thing that has no attributes such as shape, form, size, volume, weight, position, speed, temperature, color etc.. etc.. can be unperceivable/unobservable. But everything in this world, has some attribute or the other. So.. anything that is in this world cannot be me!
This is a real conclusion, based on the inquiry into who am I. and since it does not depend upon the assumptions we made earlier, this is an independent Fact. This leads to the immediate question, if I am not in this world... then where am I?
(5) WORLD IS AN ILLUSION
Anything that exists in this world cannot be me.. or in other words, I am nowhere to be found in this world But yet I am absolutely sure that I exist. If not who is indeed doing this exercise? So, How is this possible?
It is possible only if Me and the World belong to two different orders of reality, two different planes of existence. Very similar to the Dreamer and the dream. And similar to the dreamer, I am more real that the world, since I observe/aware of the world while the world is not aware of me!
This implies that the world that I experience, including the space and time and people and events and thoughts and what not, is a lower order of reality, which exists purely under the support of me.
I am the reality which gives existence to the world. The entire world is indeed an illusion! This is a dramatic Fact. Again this is totally independent of any assumptions.
(6) RECOGNIZE THE MISSING SUFFERING
This takes us back to the assumptions now. Since the whole world that we experience is nothing but an illusion, very distinct from the reality, which is me, any explanation about the functioning of the illusion is irrelevant.
At most academic. Hence if the K-theory is perfect then we can use it, if it is lacking someplace we can try to fix it and make it perfect. Also, we can choose to not worry about the K-theory, or an explanation to the illusion. We can take the stand that since the purpose of the illusion is entertainment, it is essential that everything is not completely explained.
This knowledge that we have obtained beyond a shred of doubt, that the world is an illusion, and that I am the only reality, instantly removes all the suffering caused by the innumerable experiences that appear to be undesirable and the innumerable questions that did not have answers.
Now is a good time to check the questions and issues that we listed in Step1.
Since there is no more suffering, what do you think you are left with? Pure Joy ! Let us Enjoy this wonderful experience.
This is Enlightenment!
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