Every day is a Blessed New Day! If there is a recycling of birth and death... I don't know the past me...I don't know the future me...All I know is that...I AM ME NOW

Delusion and Enlightenment.

April 21 2017

Delusion and Enlightenment.

Delusions as well as Enlightenment, both are the products of the MIND. It is the mind that creates its surroundings; hence it is never free from its memories, fears and laments, not only from the ‘past’ but in the ‘present’ and the ‘future’ as well. All delusions rise from ignorance and greed and all the vast complexities of coordinating causes and conditions exist within the mind itself.  All misery and unhappiness arise from the desire to be happy, we look for happiness outside when it is purely a state of ones own mind. Life and death too arise from the mind;

When the mind transcends the concerns of life and death, the fears of life and death pass with it.

Buddha had said that all people are deluded by two fundamental concepts, conditioned by their Karmas:

1. They believe that the discriminating mind, which is the root of this life of birth and death, is their ‘True Nature.’
2. They do not know that it is behind the veil of the discriminating mind that the pure mind of enlightenment lies which is in reality their ‘True Nature.’

The Deer; intoxicated and maddened by the fragrance of the musk that lies within, spends its entire life trying to find its source outside, in vain. Little does he know that which he relentlessly seeks outside, lies inside of him. Likewise, men seek fulfilment and enlightenment from Scriptures and Master’s, befooling themselves that they are awakened and enlightened through their association with the Enlightened Ones. They gain knowledge and pride themselves as being superior to other ignorant beings, but, knowledge is not enlightenment, it can only be the channel to enlightenment.  Just as a horse can be led to the water but he must drink it himself, it is the Buddha within that must be awakened to get enlightenment for each man is a potential Buddha and when awakened inside, becomes enlightened. This enlightenment comes from the removal of the debris collected and coated over the subjective mind from past and present manifestations of Desire, Delusion, Loss of Discrimination and Greed.

Enlightenment is abstract, it has neither form nor nature through which it can manifest itself and therefore in enlightenment itself there is nothing to be enlightened. Delusion and ignorance are the cause of enlightenment, for they are the eternal pair of opposites, one cannot exist without the other. They are opposite but not opposed for the death of one gives birth to the other and one cannot exist without the other. When anyone peruses enlightenment as an object in life, it becomes obstructive. As long as one seeks enlightenment it means that delusion and ignorance are rampant in the darkened and veiled mind. When darkness becomes enlightened, it passes away and in its passing so does enlightenment pass.  All dualities between the two end at that moment and there being no separation then, they merge into one. Hence enlightenment cannot be taught for it cannot be learnt; it has to be experienced by the mind. It already exists inside each and every human being, but is like a mirror whose reflective surface is veiled from vision by the collection of dust over years of neglect, disuse and/or misuse and abuse. The mind, which has collected innumerable impressions from past and present life manifestations, though veiled by delusions and desire, can never loose its original potentialities.

Just as pure gold is procured by melting ore and filtering all impurities, if man would melt the core of his mind and remove all impurities of worldly passions and egoism, greed and avarice, hatred and jealousy, illusion and delusion, pride and prejudice and anger and vengefulness, he would recover the Buddha Nature that is always in a state of enlightenment at the core of his True Self. We are all enlightened; we only have to find within ourselves that which we have lost!

                                                                    

The true seeker will not merely accept anyone else’s experience and be satisfied, for unless he has not experienced it himself, he has not known the truth and the truth is to be known undoubtedly and firmly, not believed in. What one believes in, may be, and may not be true. When one simply knows it, IT IS.

In the words of LOU TZU, “You will start climbing only when you reach the mountain top.”

Gittanjali Elizabeth Mordecai

(Gittanjali Singh)

INSIDE

April 19 2017

INSIDE 

Book knowledge is a burdensome knowledge where the reader, who, having absorbed the teachings, philosophies, doctrines and techniques of others goes into a dilemma many a times. The burden of accepting or rejecting the texts becomes paramount for the thinker; yet, he is only at the text level. A deep analysis would have to be the basis of ones acceptance or rejection in the belief of the teaching, philosophy, doctrine or technique of the Teacher, Philosopher, Sage or Seer. A Belief is so called because it makes you accept what someone else is telling you to be true. It’s like a birth-blind being told of the wonders and beauty of this world, he has no choice but to believe what is told to him, for he has not seen it himself. A blind man will have to believe if you tell him that it’s light when the night falls or that flowers are ugly things and that the sky is green and the grass is blue. A sighted man will nevertheless use his own vision to discern the true from the untrue. Ironically, most people are blind. The learned and highly intellectual man, more often than not becomes conceited and vain that he knows it all. He is very learned and intellectual; does it mean that he is intelligent too? An intellectual man believes that he is knowledge itself whereas an intelligent man believes only that which he experiences. It is the knowing and not the believing that makes all the difference. One believes something that one does not know but when one knows, there is no question of believing. One doesn’t have to believe what one knows, one simply knows it to be true and that’s enough.

There is a very famous quote:

“A man who knows not and knows not that he knows not, is a fool, ignore him.

A man who knows not and knows that he knows not, is a student, teach him.

A man who knows but knows not that he knows, is asleep, awaken him.

A man who knows and knows that he knows is a wise man, follow him!”

The Buddha is said to be the ultimate manifestation of enlightenment; is it possible to read about the enlightenment of the Buddha and become enlightened? One can become a Buddhist by faith and believe in the teachings, the doctrines and the techniques taught by the Buddha, but one cannot become enlightened. The Buddha is any enlightened soul who has experienced the truth on and, via the journey’ Within’. Buddha is the equivalent word for ‘Enlightenment’. Buddha was enlightened, we believe that but can only know enlightenment by the practice of his technique, the same technique he discovered and practiced to attain enlightenment. If one were to practice what Buddha has preached over two thousand and five hundred years ago, one would experience at the deepest and innermost levels what the Buddha experienced and so got enlightened. Anyone can be a Buddha, for Buddha means ‘The Enlightened One’

Gittanjali Elizabeth Mordecai

(Gittanjali Singh)

18 April 2017

INSIDE

THE TEMPLE OF TRUTH!

I dug for long deep INSIDE

And levelled myself to build a HOME

For FOUNDATION I then laid my SOUL

I CEILED it with my VALUES

And CHAMBERED it with VIRTUES

My PRINCIPLES…the OAKEN DOORS

With HONESTY…I then marbled the FLOORS.

My CONSCIENCE in place of BRICKS stood erect

The WALLS were now in place correct.

Each PILLAR I then carved with TRUTH…

To building my HOME…I gave my YOUTH.

With every corner now well made,

To rest awhile, down I laid…

IN MY TEMPLE OF TRUTH!

How long I stayed therein, I knew naught

The outside world was well forgot

Until the night the hawk came by

And Vultures screeching filled the night sky

Wailing that the Werewolf was nigh!

I heard a gush…waters rush…

With moans of million wanton beings

Washed away by desire into hell’s burning fire…

And then the earth began to crack…

As tremors rocked its whole…

And mighty structures crashed to earth…

With debris engulfing life and mirth

Mud to mud and dirt to dirt!

Yet nothing shook my fortitude

I felt no fear INSIDE.

Amidst the gory sea of death

My fortress weathered the ruinous storm.

It shook me not the Harbinger’s horn…

As nature took its toll

Not setting aside one from all.

I was free from shame…I was free from pride…

With Faith for Torch and the Lord for Guide

I was free from sin…Safe within…

MY TEMPLE OF TRUTH!

Gittanjali Elizabeth Mordecai

All knowledge and enlightenment comes from three sources; through that which is taught to the Student by his Guru, self learnt by the seeker through the innumerable teachings of the sages and Masters, or, through that which is realized and known at ones own experiential levels. That which comes through learning and teachings of others remains at the intellectual levels only and rarely can it enhance ones spiritual growth and ones onwards journey in the quest of self-realization and God.

REFLECTIONS… Gittanjali Elizabeth Mordecai (Singh)

The mind has four divisions that control it:

1.       COGNIZANCE: To recognize which of the six senses has moved and entered the mind set

2.       PERCEPTION: To perceive the quality of the message received from any of the six senses and to decide whether it is good or bad

3.       SENSITIVITY: On receiving the decision of the Perception about the quality of the message, the senses either enjoy or dislike that particular signal or sensation.

4.       REACTION: Is the culmination of all the three above. The mind-set will cause a reaction which will again give birth to an action which will be followed by another reaction.

CONCEPTION-PERCEPTION-REALIZATION

Everything is created by thought; an idea, a concept, a brainwave, an enterprise… everything takes its roots in the mind and thoughts are created. 

PASSIVE THOUGHTS just lie in there burdening the sub-conscious adding and increasing all the impressions of all past manifestation.

ACTIVE THOUGHTS are projected into the universe and manifest as material reality.

An Architect conceives a project design, makes a blue print and then constructs accordingly materializing his thought concepts and images into reality. Hence, everything in the material world has mattered because it was given a thought.

 Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans

It’s not the mountain that we conquer but ourselves…. Sir Edmond Hillary

If you talk to God, it’s called a prayer, You God talks to you its called schizophrenia… Lily Tomlin

A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere… Groucho Marx

Ability is of little account without opportunity… Napoleon Bonaparte

It ain't over till it’s over… Yogi Berra

You gotta be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going because you might not get there… Yogi Berra

Money often costs too much… Ralph Waldo Emerson

I’m the one who has to die when it’s time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want… Jimi Hendrix

Computers are useless; they can only give you answers… Pablo Picasso

We must become the change we want to see around us… Mahatma Gandhi

If you owe the bank 100$, that’s your problem, if you owe the bank $ 100 million, that’s the bank’s problem… John Paul Getty

If you can count your money, you don’t have a million dollars…  John Paul Getty

It’s hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place… H L Mencken

Education is what survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten…B F Skinner

Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed…Michael Pritchard

Am I dying or is it my birthday...Lady Astor

I do not have to forgive my enemies, I’ve had them all shot…Ramon Maria Narvaez

The soul that can speak with the eyes can also kiss with the gaze…Gustavo Adolfo Becquer

When you like someone you like them inspite of their faults, when you love someone, you love them with their faults… Elizabeth Cameron

The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost…G K Chesterton

The magic of first love is our ignorance that it can never end… Benjamin Disraeli

The greatest happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved- loved for ourselves or rather loved inspite of ourselves…Victor Hugo

If you judge people, you will have no time to love them…. Mother Theresa

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office… Aesop

Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress… Thomas Alva Edison

Don’t pay attention to what they write about you, just measure it in inches… Andy Warhol

The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis…Dante Alighieri

The easiest kind of relationship is with ten thousand people, the hardest is with one… John Baez

Things are never so bad that they can’t be made worst… Humphery Bogart

History is a set of lies agreed upon… Napoleon Bonaparte

If you want a thing well done… do it yourself… Napoleon Bonaparte

If I had to choose a religion, the Sun as the universal giver of life would be my GOD… Napoleon Bonaparte

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake… Napoleon Bonaparte

Man is the only animal that can remain obn friendly terms with the victim he intends to eat until he eats him… Samuel Butler

Do you know what charm is? It’s the way of getting the answer YES without having asked any clear question… Albert Camus

You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life… Albert Camus

Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get… Dale Carnegie

A day without laughter is a day wasted… Charlie Chaplin

In the end everything is a gag… Charlie Chaplin

An original writer is not one who imitates anybody but one whom nobody can imitate… Francois Rene de Chateaubriand

He who asks is a fool for five minutes but he who does not ask remains a fool forever… Chinese Proverb

In the struggle between the stone and water, in time, the water wins… Chinese Proverb

Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think… Chinese Proverb

A man who is under 30 and is not liberal... has no heart and a man who is over 30 and is not conservative has no brains… Winston Churchill

History will be kind to me for I intend to write it… Winston Churchill

Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm… S N Churchill

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance… Confucius

You are to me O Lord what wings are to a flying bird… Gittanjali Elizabeth Mordecai

Had God made money, it would have grown on trees… Gittanjali Elizabeth Mordecai

Here today… gone tomorrow… in-between why so much sorrow… Gittanjali Elizabeth Mordecai

If you feel that God has put you on hold… don’t hang up

Plan ahead, when Noah built the arc it wasn’t raining

Sex is the price a woman has to pay for marriage and marriage is the price a man has to pay for sex

Evil people don’t die easy but when they do, it’s not easy…. Gittanjali Elizabeth Mordecai

To acquire knowledge one must study to acquire wisdom one must observe… Marilyn Vos Savant

To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting… Sun Tzu

A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money… W C Fields

Don’t be humble; you are not so great… Golda Meir

A jury is twelve people who decide which party has a better lawyer… Robert Frost

If God did not exist it would be necessary to invent him… Voltaire

Everything that used t be a sin is now a disease… Bill Maher

“Forgive O Lord my little jokes on Thee and I will forgive the great one on me”… Robert Frost

MORE SOON!

Gittanjali

Is It I or ME

I read a very good question on FB... It asked, "If your personality were to simply vanish what would be left?"
My answer is: if your personality were to simply vanish... what would be left? NOTHING... but... the REAL YOU! It is you that works on your personality consciously or sub-consciously... it is YOU in the second person but in the first person singular it is ME, not even I for I am a creation of ME. I am because of me and not vice versa, hence, my personality is my creation for it is the outward projection of ME... ME is the original that pampers and nurtures the I (personality amongst a few) being an intrinsic part of it but not really IT, for it's all INSIDE and not OUTSIDE! We are IN IT but NOT OF IT!
You all must read this, when I was younger, so much younger than today, I used to read comics (I still do for I am still very young) and one of my favorites was Charlie Brown.
One such read thus:
Charlie sat amidst the mess in his room trying to clean it up as his mother had told him he had to before supper. It was dinner time and Charlie was not down as yet.
"Hey Charlie... supper is ready" his mother called.
There was no reply.
"Charlie," she yelled, "supper is gettin' cold"
There still was no reply...
She wondered whether he was in his room at all and so stomped up the stairs and entered his bedroom, pushing open the door she said, "Hey Charlie... are you there?"
Charlie sat on his bed scratching his head with a lost look and screamed, "How should I know?"
His mother was perplexed, "What do you mean... how should I... you know?" she yelled.
"Yea" he snapped back, "How should I know that I am really there? How should I know if I am really me? Maybe... I am just a bad dream someone is having and this is not the real ME"
Hahahaha...think about it.
Until the next time,
Gittanjali Elizabeth Mordecai.