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LIKE BABY LEARNS TO WALK FOR THE FIRST TIME
Without abandoning the life.
So often life brings us to the juncture where you have to leave everything behind and start new.
It can be an emotional connection, or day-to-day life that has changed.
This change can be accidental or intentional.
Reason can be anything that is imaginable or beyond our control.
Quitting a job to start a new business, or death in the family, moving to a different town because you no longer feel you belong to your place.
It can be anything.
Most significantly, it can be a spiritual awakening.
An Enlightenment.
The truth is we start new every day every hour every moment.
If you become aware enough to examine every thought that comes you your mind and the way it disappears, you learn to live in the very moment and acknowledge the impermanence of life.
Very often we embark on a journey that is daring.
And most daring journey one can take is the journey within.
Swim into the uncharted territory. To find the source of the thoughts.
Being face to face with the self and knowing that you are nobody and everybody puts the mind on a rollercoaster.
It struggles until it dissolves completely.
Into nothingness, and emptiness of the things around us.
Everything is made of atoms.
Atoms are divided into molecules.
Molecules are divided into protons.
And if protons are not given a chance to come together, they disappear.
Things are made of nothing.
This often can be a freeing experience.
The burden of ego is taken off the shoulders and you see the life as it is for the first time.
You are born again and again and again.
With birth comes death too, again again and again.
We have been doing this for aeons, we have been doing this from moment to moment.
The realisation that we are doing it, stops the cycle.
The cycle of rebirth and the cycle of ego that thinks you are separate from the self.
But this change can come with challenges.
There is a phantom of mind that aches.
There are no grounds to stand on.
A prisoner who was born in prison will feel discomfort when released for the first time.
He has been served the mental food by the social conditioning and has never looked elsewhere for any other options.
He finds himself in a mall where has the freedom to have everything, but doesn’t know what he wants.
I was stuck in such a situation.
When I went through this process in 2017, a guide online gave an allegory of Mowgli.
He was brought up by the wolves and now has to learn how to walk, sit and eat like humans.
How to deal with this situation?
It comes from my experience.
Continue
There is nothing AHHAA about it.
Before enlightenment, chop wood, and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, and carry water.
Continue to do what you were doing before.
Sometimes you might find yourself in a new premise, like I worked in Human Connect for a year.
But gradually you write to the linkings that are aligned to your nature.
The effect that you might experience is that you do things by being more aware and incorporating mindfulness in everything you do.
I continue to be in business, writing and art. With more affection.
And yes, I still love to cook, eat admire beauty and luxury.
Let things happen
Enlightenment is often daunted with the words Guru, Master and Baba.
That is not the end.
The real enlightenment does not come with the package of being a master.
In fact, many people I know continue to do what they were doing earlier and let things happen.
An enlightened Artist will let the art flow, him being the medium.
A writer will let the words pour out.
Art is born not made — Korean proverb
Let the creation be born.
If you are still stuck with finding a purpose in life after realisation, this might help.
But be mindful that many people who are enlightened have a day job.
People
You won’t be able to avoid them.
They will pop from anywhere, even if you are sitting in the deep forest.
It has happened to me once.
I was spending leisurely days in a private coffee estate by the bank of the river in Coorg, India.
A car arrived and stopped near me to ask an unusual question.
“Where do you find peace?”
I burst into laughter as my peace was already broken, and the conversation went on for hours.
People find you and they find you interesting.
New Horizon
Enlightenment is not the end of the life.
We continue to live and life goes on.
I wandered many places in India on my vintage Royal Enfield.
Met many Masters, Gurus and people.
I Initiated myself into Zen and my master accepted me as his disciple.
The purpose of stating this is, if there is resistance to learn and grow, if you think you are done; you are not yet there.
If you idolise some foolish fancy dressed clown and proclaim that he doesn’t need any master or have one; you are spiritually doomed.
According to a Zen koan, a young monk asked his teacher for the key to enlightenment. The master said, “Did you eat? Then wash your bowl.”
Always keep your bowl empty.
I once asked my master, “How deep? How much more?”
My master replied, “There is always a new horizon to be found.”
Surrender to this very moment, surrender from moment to moment.
When you are not there IT is.