Thursday 5 November 2020

COMING TO TERMS WITH LIFE

It looks like I am a full-time blogger now, after having retired since 2016, and with the lockdown by the Government and further confinement by Agathiyar, I have all the time in my hands to read and share what I read with readers. If I had written in an earlier post stating my confusion as to the reality of things, "Life might just be confusing at times. When we are rooted deep into the affairs of the world, a Siddha comes by and reminds us of our commitment towards him and the divine and initiates the move to break away from it all. On the other hand for another who finds it hard to engage further in the same affairs of the world and desires to leave it all behind him, he is reminded of his responsibilities. Who could possibly fathom the workings of the divine?", I received some clarity from a post carrying a message from Osho's "Book of Secrets" at https://o-meditation.com/category/osho/on-tantra/the-book-of-secrets/

Life is a rhythm between opposites: male and female, positive and negative, day and night, birth and death. Between these opposites moves the river of life. The opposites are the banks – they appear to be contradictory, but they are co-operative. The appearance is false. Life cannot exist without this rhythm between the opposites. And life contains all. Tantra is neither for this nor for that – Tantra is for all. Tantra has no standpoint of its own really. All standpoints that are possible are contained in it. It is big. It can contradict itself because it contains all. It is not partial, it is the whole. Hence it is holy.

It is only contradictory in appearance we are told. The appearance too is said to be false. How well do we see the world as it is in its real form or is that an illusion or appearance too? There are so many factors that influence our sight, perception, and understanding. Beyond all these and even if we have perfect eyesight one needs good lighting to see things in the firsts place. 

"We can see different objects only in the presence of light. Actually when a beam of light falls on an object from the source of light then this light gets reflected in all directions after striking that object. The reflected light then reaches our eyes and we become able to see that object." (http://www.funscience.in)
"Not all objects give off light and so we see some objects because light reflects off their surface and into our eyes." For instance, as "The Moon does not make its own light – we can only see it when the Sun’s light reflects off its surface." (https://www.rmg.co.uk/) 

The images we see are made up of light reflected from the objects we look at. This light enters the eye through the cornea, which acts like a window at the front of the eye. The amount of light entering the eye is controlled by the pupil, which is surrounded by the iris – the coloured part of the eye. Because the front part of the eye is curved, it bends the light, creating an upside down image on the retina. The retina is a complex part of the eye, and its job is to turn light into signals about images that the brain can understand. Only the very back of it is light sensitive: this part of the retina is roughly the area of a 10p coin, and is packed with photosensitive cells called cones and rods. Cones are the cells responsible for daylight vision. There are three kinds, each responding to a different wavelength of light: red, green and blue. The cones enable us to see images in colour and detail. In darkness, the cones do not function at all. Rods are responsible for night vision. They are sensitive to light but not to colour. The brain eventually turns the image the right way up. (https://www.sightsavers.org/)

For the Siddhas, they seem to see the world entirely different, hence their indifference to things, events, and happenings. They seem to be not concerned with the going ones asking us to not join in the fuss and chaos that is taking place. Although the pandemic has taken many lives; although many diseases and plagues have taken lives too in the past, all many battles have been fought, although many have suffered in the aftermath of these battles, life still goes on. As my friend had shared a divine message with me, 

முனிவர் நமக்குச் சொல்கிறார்:

"இதை, நீ ஞாபகத்தில் வைத்துக் கொள். உன்னைச் சுற்றி இருப்பவற்றால் நீ எரிச்சல் அடைந்தால், உன் கவனத்தை உள்முகமாகத் திருப்பு. எரிச்சலுக்கான காரணம் நீயாகத்தான் இருப்பாய். உனது எதிர்பார்ப்பு அல்லது ஆசை வேறாக இருந்திருக்கும்; அல்லது ஏதோ ஒரு நிபந்தனையை உனக்குள் நீ விதித்திருப்பாய். அதுதான் உனது எரிச்சலுக்குக் காரணம்.. உலகத்தை நமக்கேற்ப நிர்ப்பந்தப்படுத்த முடியாது..அதை எதிர்த்துப் போராடும்போது நீ வெறுப்படைகிறாய்'' என்கிறார்,

that when translated means, "If you are irritated by things around you, bring your attention within. The reason for being irritated stems from you. Your expectation or desire might be otherwise or you might have had a condition laid out. This is the cause of your irritation. You cannot possibly condition the world to your liking. When you begin to challenge that you end up irritated."

As Mataji Saroji Ammaiyar says that at times we have to stomach things and happenings that are against our will or சகித்துக்கொள் we learn to surrender them to the divine and see them as the divine will instead. I had taken up several issues that I deemed needed action or attention, going through the proper channels. But when there is no action on their part, I took it up with others. When there is no action even then, I drop it telling myself that it is not meant to be or changed. I leave it as it is. But at other times and with certain issues, we see the fruit of our actions immediately. I suppose that they have consented to it. As Mahindran wrote after reading the previous post, "If we changed our thoughts that everything is god’s creation that every single thing up to atoms is HIS creation; when we settle into this mindset then nothing will bother us." Nothing misses from his glance and since he is aware of all happenings, nothing comes to fruition without his consent. After having placed all possible efforts towards warding off these dangers, if it still comes towards us to endanger us, then we understand it as the divine will and seek refuge with him. 

A friend messaged me, "Amazement at the work of the Masters, is all that remains. They know best, in terms of Time, Space, and Causation. Here, Causation has to be Divine, unlike what we experience as Cause-Effect Duality. Such duality is not for the Masters or Lord Shiva. Realization is at Their Will, Grace, and Blessing. That alone can and should be our goal, in prayer and sadhana." As Osho says, "Shiva is giving all the techniques without any systematizing. They cannot be systematized, because a system means that the contradictory, the opposite, must be denied", we find that we cannot deny the opposites and come to accept them as part of life. And as "The opposites are the banks – they appear to be contradictory, but they are co-operative," we shall come to terms with it and learn to live with it. In learning to live with it, we are unlearning all that we had absorbed earlier. As the friend says, "In terms of sadhana, as taught by our Masters, we need to unlearn. Knowledge is a burden, but Wisdom is Divine and sets you free", unlearning sets us free. We have to relearn to see everything as a whole. Only that is holy.