The Difficulties of Knowledge

Knowing is a difficult process. 

To know that everything is made of atoms does not happen intuitively. A long painful process of observations, contemplation, looking deep, building sophisticated equipment, and accidental discovery and many more things are involved in arriving at this knowledge.

Understanding life, the world, the Universe is a very unnatural process. No living being spends so much time and energy as the human in the process of accumulating knowledge. Most of our knowledge serves the basic purpose of existence or living such as eating, sleeping, procreating and entertaining. We gather more and more knowledge that will eventually aid us in these basic needs.

As vast amounts of time passes, our knowledge has sophisticated beyond the ordinary. Abstractions such as mathematics and computer instructions dominate a large part of our world. Our probes into every aspect of this physical world, has resulted in vast amount of complex structures of information.

In this day and age defined as the information era, it is obvious we are building a behemoth called knowledge. We want an explanation for everything, want to know the reason behind things, we are relentlessly pursuing the control of everything, an ability to be able to manage life at the most atomic level.

In all of this, we do get disconnected with our primary self, a simple body and a simple mind, that simply craves to exist without sophistication.

Letting go of this necessity to know, the need for explanations, the craving for a 'cause and effect' relationship and an endless pursuit to control our lives is liberation and enables us to get back to our original state of joyful existence.

Information vs Knowledge

We undoubtedly live in an information era. All activities revolve around gathering and using information. This is an era of rapid communication, and connectivity driven by information. People around the world are becoming more and more informed. Getting information and understanding it seems to be very natural and at ease. This has been the culmination of a long evolution of intelligence, and ability to use logic to build information structures, one on top of the other.

We have reached a stage where we have an enormous amount of information as well as it being very complex in nature. Advances in science as well as any field of endeavor is presented for laymen and comprehended relatively easily. Analogies and pedagogical tools help us understand complex topics such as relativity and light year.

While our ability to gather and understand information has increased to a great extent, converting information to Knowledge is a different matter altogether. Knowledge is internalized information, where one begins to live life in sync with what one has understood.

For example, the information that 'Everything is made up of atoms' is reasonably understandable. Through logic , and primitive axioms, one can arrive at this information. But this stays as mere information. It stays at a intellectual level, and available for discussions and contemplations. Converting such a fundamental piece of information into Knowledge will liberate one from the miseries of life.

If everything is made of atoms,(here by atom we can mean the most fundamental particle, such as a Higgs-Boson) then whatever we see is made of atoms. A blade of grass, a cloud, a waterfall, a sun, dirt, food, our body, each and every organ in our body, and so on.. are all made of the exact same atom.

Atoms are clean, they are pristine. There are no ugly atoms, no dirty atoms, no good atoms, or bad ones. Even the cancer cell contains the very same atoms as  that of life giving oxygen. The irritating neighbor is made of the exact same atom as myself. If one searches the body all one finds is the atom. The individual self is never to be found. The identify claiming to be the self is not to be seen. only billions and billions of the very same atom. Everywhere. All over the Universe, the very same thing.

A deep and sustained contemplation on this fundamental idea becomes profound Knowledge. A world made entirely of atoms, without any idea of good or bad, likes and dislikes cannot be the cause of any kind of trouble. All emotions, thoughts, ideas and stories happen in an illusory layer over and above the atomic realm.That extra step to Knowing something from it being mere information transforms life, and in this case results in Joy.

If everything is made up of atoms and nothing but atoms, then it is indeed easy to 'Imagine'.

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Thanks John Lennon for such a profound song.

Perfect imperfection

We all are perfectionists at various levels. We need certain things in a certain way. We want people to obey traffic rules, our kids to listen to us, our neighbors to be friendly, a plastic free world, and our politicians to be corruption-free, well that desire we have overcome. Point is we have our set of things to be in a way we want them to be, and certain other things we learn to live with.

Our experiences are only interpretations of events. Events themselves lack the power to create an experience, its our faculty of interpretation that enables us to experience things. As we get to understand this, we learn to see the happenings of life, in a different manner. Be it day to day events, or life altering things. As we become more refined in this, and we begin taking things on our stride, life gets into a monotonic rhythm. 

Then out of the blue something happens that makes you go mad beyond your wildest dreams. Now how did that happen? In spite of our composure, and our complete understanding of the meaninglessness of life, and the fallacy of taking anything hard, some events do get us! This is the greatest feature of life! It keeps bringing up surprises, and makes you feel alive. You think you have got it all, and then this happens!

A totally desire less state will liberate us from the negativity of such situations, contemplating on the nature of reality, and beauty and depth of this creation, helps us stay at the right distance from life.

The world is an illusion, and the frameworks of likes and dislikes create endless structures for living. Realizing this, and staying in this knowledge, helps us get back on our feet after feeling the blow that life just gave. If you think about it, this life is indeed perfectly imperfect!

Fourth State

There is a mythological story associated with the God Siva which gave him the title Tripurantaka. according to the story, Three indestructible mythical cities were built in the sky by demons and provided a safe haven for them. With this safe shelter to protect them they went about harassing the good folks of the worlds. Siva comes to the rescue of the gods and sages, by destroying the cities with on single arrow, at a particular moment when all three cities come into a linear alignment. It is notable that Siva destroys them in an almost effortless manner with a smile on his face. Also it is mentioned that he did so without taking any help from the gods.

There are plenty of retelling of this story, as well as famous sculptures of Shiva as Tripurantaka made and worshiped. Some say this story represents how Siva rescues one from suffering, some talk about the three demons and the cities as Pride, Anger and Delusion.While these maintain and divine and mystical character to the story, the true purport of it is not popular.

This is indeed a deep philosophical tale, associated with the individual and nothing to do with demons and gods. Every single person exists in one of three states at any given time. The three states are,

• Waking
• Sleeping (Dreaming)
• Deep Sleep

When we are awake, we experience the world as it is, it contains the duality of pleasure and pain. Not everything goes our way. During dreams, we exist in an unreal world, experiencing duality at a fantasy level, with certain things that are not possible in our waking state. Upon waking up however, both the pleasure and pain from the dream are falsified. During deep sleep without a dream, we simply sleep, we do not experience anything. Since there is no experience of any kind, we are totally devoid of any suffering or pain, but there will be no pleasure as well. These are the three states of existence.

All three of them are not ideal, since each has either both pleasure and pain,  or none at all. Realizing the truth about the Self as the only reality, and all three states as part of the illusion, and accepting the Waking state as the only state where there can be a conscious experience, one goes about life rejecting the duality offered by it. This Fourth state is the state of Joy.

This realization is the destruction of Tripuram (three cities which is equivalent to the three states). For this to happen it does take a great alignment of sorts, and it does happen without effort or help from the gods.

If music be the food of love, Play on

That famous English bard in Twelfth Night extols music as a great companion to Love. There are people who believe of such a relationship between Music and Enlightenment. There is the Bakthi movement with Bajans and singing, and chanting and rendering. There are people who seek to unite with the God through Dance. There are people who think by a control of eating one can get closer to Him. By constant visualization of the Forms of the Divine people believe they can reach their Divine goal.

If one observes in detail, it becomes clear that all of these are based on the senses. They are either indulgence in the senses or an abstinence from them. Senses are closer to the mind (with a lower case 'm'). The mind is the oscillating, happiness craving, vibrant aspect of us. and the mind is closely bound with the senses. 

All these acts of singing, music, dance, drama, and so on are to keep the mind in check. To coax and cajole the mind into dissolving into nothing. The mind is the hindrance to us enjoying our true infinite happy Self. The mind through its vibrant existence creates a world full of variations and makes us oscillate between pleasure and pain. Art, music, chanting of divine passages and other acts makes this mind dissolve in these and hence make us experience our true nature of Bliss. Also one should remember that some of these acts are physical from smoking incense sticks to sticks of insanity, from drinking divine water from holy rivers to distilled waters from wholly owned yards.

This tradition has been there since existence of time, and it takes new forms as time turns its wheels. New things to feed and indulge the senses with a hope of transcending the physical world. But by feeding the senses more and more, they are reinforcing their existence. The momentary bliss is mistaken for a future permanent offering. Little do the people realize that this momentary experience exists only as long as the indulgence exists. Indulgence in the senses in itself is a fine experience, but hoping them to take us to a higher existence is the fallacy.

All of these acts coaxes, cajoles and quietens the mind similar to a pain killer providing immediate but momentary relief. After a while, once the effect wears away, all the miseries of the world come gushing towards us.

Enlightenment, Mukti, Moksha, Awakening are things that have nothing to do with the mind! and are to do with the other aspect of our self, the Intellect. The logical and analytic faculty is however busy dealing with its intuitive counterpart the mind. Through music and singing and other similar acts if the mind can be dissolved, there is a chance for the intellect to contemplate on reality and get the knowledge. But the mind is too powerful and the effort has to be sustained, leaving little room for the intellect to realize the Truth. Even though all the music and dance and chanting appear divine, it is counterproductive in the process of reaching the Ultimate. It is Knowledge through the sustained listening and contemplating under an Enlightened Master that would result in enlightenment.

Until then one can enjoy the music for its own sake. After Enlightenment though, one can indulge in all the senses resulting in a joyful life

Enlightenment Is ..

Enlightenment is knowing that I do not exist in the Universe that is perceived.

There is this Universe. an infinite variety of shapes, forms, names, colors, movement, ideas, comings, goings, interactions, collections, relations, interpretations, values, valuations, directions, orientations, information, communications, creations and what not.

There are certain very interesting and entertaining entities called people. they seem to have a mind of their own. they also seem to have their own individual existence. There are lots of people. there seems to have been lots of people, and more people seem to be on the way.

The Universe in general though appears unimaginably large, it seems to focus around the entities called people. the ideas, actions, and communications of people seem to define the world.

Of all the people in the world, there seem to be a particular person , whose mind I seem to have access to. I can see his thoughts, I can see his emotions, I can see his view of the world. Of course I am certain that I am not this person, just that I seem to have some access to his mind. In spite of knowing and apparently interacting with this world to a good extent, I am not part of it.

Sometime ago I realized that I do not exist in this Universe. But I do exist. So this Universe of variations, is apparent, similar to the Universe in a dream. Though I seem to experience the dream, I am not inside the dream. so my experience is also only apparent.

The world of experiences, and the experience it seems to offer , all of it being disconnected and apparent, it is indeed strange that I  get concerned about things. But ... concerns and anxieties, rejoicing and fun, all are part of the World where I do not exist.

Realizing that I alone exist, which can neither act, not experience and disconnected by this world which is nothing but a drama of light and sound, the I stays in its own state of bliss.

What should one do after Enlightenment ?

In the Bhagavad Gita, there is an interesting verse, in chapter 5, verse 54 : Arjuna asks Krishna about the state of an enlightened person, how he will conduct himself, how he will sit, how he will walk, what will he talk,etc. He is not merely curious about some enlightened person and his behavior. His question is indirectly a question about himself. After knowing about enlightenment, Arjuna is curious about how the enlightened will behave. In a way he is checking out what he ought to be doing once he is enlightened.

Interestingly Krishna goes about saying several things, obviously not very specific but seemingly distinct.

The inclusion of this dialogue and several such are indeed the genius of the Vedantic texts. The objective of the Vedantic texts are to pave a path for enlightenment. and this is a journey. a long hard journey at that. Instead of merely declaring things as such and such in an axiomatic manner, starting from an imaginary nothingness, these texts mimic the inquiry, introspection and inner transformation of the seeker,every step of the way.

Enlightenment in a way can be elaborated as obtaining the ultimate understanding to our questions in life and beyond, about the world, life, people, events, the space, time and everything that the mind can think and ask about, as well as things that it is not capable of asking about. This is the ultimate quest. The ultimate destination is one and the same no matter how many paths one takes. 

Finally one good morning (or evening ,or most likely in the very middle of the night), when all the studies and teachings of the Guru fructifies and the seeker gets the Aha moment, he is baffled, feels a little bit stupid as well, and eventually completely at peace with the consistency of everything. Whether a simple proof that fits the margin of a notebook, or an elaborate and excruciatingly painful 1000-page proof the Fermat's Last theorem, fact is, it is proved, and finally the integrity of the axiomatic foundations of mathematics are preserved along with the cozy framework of Logic.

After basking in this moment of glory, the enlightened mulls over the post-enlightened phase. What am I supposed to do, 

now that I have known that knowing which I am incapable of knowing anything,

now that I have experienced that, experiencing which I am incapable of experiencing anything further,

now that I have seen that, seeing which I no longer see anything ...etc etc..

kind of perplexing situation, especially for the one who is supposedly enlightened..  this is where Arjuna's question comes into the picture.

Enlightenment means realizing you are not the doer, after realizing it, if one wonders what to do, perhaps the only thing to do is go back and start over the journey of enlightenment again with the hope that it might work this time around.

Hurdle to Happiness

Happiness. everlasting, undiminished and unlimited. This is the pursuit of all of us. Each one of us have our own means to it. Sometimes acquiring a thing gives happiness, some times getting rid of something gives happiness. sometimes this thing could be the very same object.

Things seem to be all nice and quiet and suddenly something brews up, it disturbs the peace and removes the happiness. a remedy to such situation results in happiness. A pain creates unhappiness. removal results in happiness. A void creates unhappiness, filling it up with activities, people and events creates happiness.

A doubt creates unhappiness, clarity gives happiness. Thinking of the past brings about unhappiness to the present. A sudden event of liking brings about happiness and makes us forget the past.

A disagreement creates unhappiness, understanding or agreement results in happiness.

Certain things result in long lasting unhappiness. certain things appear to be perpetual and never ending.

When we see our desires fulfilled we become happy. an unfulfilled desire is a cause for unhappiness.

In all of these, if one were to investigate, we can find that the object, event, person, etc. do not have an absolute part to play in either bringing about happiness or in removing it. Ice cream is NOT an happiness producing object. we can find that out after having a few scoops. the mouth will reject it after a certain point. Money is NOT an happiness producing object. Anyone who has more than that is needed will instantly agree. The process of safe guarding, ensuring its growth, and the desire for more will remove the happiness producing property of any object.

Further investigation reveals that , the happiness is not an INHERENT property of any single object in the world. If fact the world is incapable of giving us happiness on its own.

The happiness is our true nature. the unhappiness is nothing but the clouded stream of thoughts in the NOW. removing such unhappy thoughts is happiness.

Happiness is not something that is acquired. Rather it is the removal of the unhappiness.

Due to conditioning of the mind over ages, we come to identify ourselves wrongly, and result in a very limited and punitive interpretation of ourselves. This causes us to desire certain things and dislike certain others. If only we know there is nothing other that our self that ever exists, then there is nothing to like and dislike. We do not envy anyone in our dream. Do we? Of course within the dream we might. But wouldn't it be a joke if we wake up and start worrying about events inside the dream. There was no actual event, no actual people, no actual YOU within the dream to experience either the desirable or the undesirable.

Knowing the truth that the world is an illusion, and identical to a dream, the mind learns to interpret the world correctly. A slow unwinding of the predefined rules for happiness will result in the mind staying in its original and real state. Which is a state of unclouded Aura. When the domination of Matter and Energy subsides, and the clarity of Aura begins to shine, and the fact that life is but one big movie emerges strong, the notion of happiness itself disappears.

The realization occurs that happiness is nothing but absence of the thought "I am unhappy".This instantly results in independence from things, people and events. Sounds like a mere play of logic: Negating the Negation of A thing to arrive at it! But this is a fact which we learn over a period of time.

This is Freedom and Liberation.

The Seasons of the Mind

If we introspect on what the mind is, we come to the conclusion that it is different from the body. We are tempted to believe that the mind is some sort of a function of the brain. But the brain is also completely a physiological organism, at the most it can do certain things that are "programmed".

Similar to the concept of Inverse Kinematics familiar to 3D animators, there are programs in the brain for all the functions of the body. It might also appear to create thoughts. or show certain activity associated with thoughts, emotions etc.

One can say, there are neurons, that keep firing all the time, and there is chemical, physical and physiological actions going on in the brain. One may even eventually "identify" through some sort of a scanning mechanism a single particular thought, or a unique configuration of the brain or part of it, while one has a certain thought. We may even be eventually map all thoughts by physical observation. So what does it mean? is the brain responsible for our thoughts?

The unique distinction between a programmable computer such as a Turing machine, and the human is that there is somebody "having", or "observing" the thoughts. In the case of the computer, there is none.

The true "I" does not belong to this place of physical reality at all. what we see in this world is a representation of the real I. Just like we observe our self as a character inside our dreams.

The most difficult part of handling our lives surround around how our mind functions. What it does, feels and how it emotes. If we realize that the mind belongs to the lower order of reality, and we are able to observe it, since we know what the mind thinks, we can ease a bit, saying I am not this suffering mind at all. I am simply an observer of it, just like I am the observer of my body.

However this is easier said than done. Just like the body has characteristics, the Mind has its character. the mind, just like the body and like every other thing in the Universe, is made of three kinds of nature, Aura, Energy and Matter.

The composition of the mind based on these three components keeps changing all the time. It depends on the food we eat, the company we keep, the books we read, the news that we consume and so on. It also depends on the time of the day, the weather, the climate, the colors and what not. and all of this varies from individual to individual. as they say one man's meat is another man's poison.

Having known this, we can try to control the composition as much as we can. But this is similar to protecting the physical body from illness, or having a high fitness level. There will always be sickness, points of break down etc.

So, the real solution is simply the knowledge that the mind will always keep changing. sometimes it is very enlightened, sometimes it is agitated, sometimes is is dull, based on which nature is dominant at the moment.

Just realize this fact and simply observe when the mind is in what nature. When is Aura, enjoy and make the most of it. when in Energy get your things done, when in Matter(dullness) just laugh it out.

This knowledge, similar to the knowledge of the changing seasons, liberates and ends suffering.

SIx Steps To Enlightenment

(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.

(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!