Thursday, March 09, 2006

meditation, going deep, higher self and all that jazz...

meditation...what is it? as per my understanding, meditation is not something that can be done, it is not doing, it is a state of being, of being here and now, and either one is in that state or one is not. whatever one does, breath control, japa, mantra, whatever, it is not meditation itself, it is an effort one makes to get to meditation..
...two most commmon phrases i have come across..."meditating and going deeper within the self"....and "connecting to or trying to connect to the higher self"...if someone can explain, please do, what depth is being spoken of, god, consciousness, waheguru whatever name one calls it with is all there is, here there everywhere, where can one go? where can one go from where one is right now, and if god is right here right now, what is the need of going deep or anywhere, god is right here right now,...as kabir says, "where are you looking my friend, i am right here with you, your shoulder is against mine"
"connecting with the higher self", another something that makes no sense. there is only one self which is the self of all, where did this higher self come from...
and where does one get to hear this mumbo jumbo the most? my expereince is that 9 times out of 10(actually 10 out of 10, but then...) these are words used by people who sooner or later(sooner) will hit upon you for money, and they are out there in numbers, self styled gurus, preachers, propagators of religion, so called yoga msters, especially the kundalini ones, feng shui experts, aura cleansers...the list can go on and on...have met so many of them, most of them high profile ones, the kind who have their shows on television and their columns in newspapers and magazines, the kind film and t.v personalities, politicians and the so called elite class goes to....the most recent case bing this guy i met at a studio i had gone to for a shoot. he introduced himself as master xyz,(master, nothing less ever does), master of such and such branch of feng shui, direct disciple of master abc, one of the greatest masters of our times. he very reverently unwrapped a beautiful frame, in which there were plenty of things written in chinese, as he hung it up on a wall, i asked him what it was, he said it was part of some most ancient chinese scriptures, and these verses were very effective for getting rid of negetive energy, the clalligraphy was indeed very beautiful. but my next question got him all worked up, i asked him what do theverses say, his answer was the same, " for removing negetive energy", i said fine, but what does it say. he tried to avoid answering and i kept asking and after a short verbal exchange it was plain evident to everyone around that he did not know, though he claimed that he did. he said there was no point explaining as none of us understood chinese anyway. i said we dont, but you do, so at least translate it for us, but no, he just lost his temper and said i was being disrespectful to religious scriptures. i said no, i am in no way irreverent, i am only trying to find out what they say....and then i also lost it a bit and said that he calls himself a master in this art and yet has no clue as to what is written in that frame, for which he is charging a bomb, the basic idea must be to make a fast buck. he got offended and left after sometime...i did in a way apologise to him for whatever reasons before he left....but the fact is that he has been advising the studio owner for the past three years, made so many changes, so many wind chimes, a huge yellow red carpet inside the studio, three fish tanks, red colored buckets and some crystals in the loos, so many dragons, frogs, birds, bamboos and whatnot placed all over and not a single change for the better has ever been seen. the only person who has benifitted is himself. each time he comes, claiming to have gained some new knowledge, installs something, takes his money and scoots.
all this does not mean that i have not met genuine teachers and masters, i have, something about that later, but most of them do not have knowledge enough and are only in it for money. its really sad the way they prey upon insecure and vulnerable people who come to them hoping to better their lives. i also dont mean to say that these arts and sciences are invalid, they are valid and can be used to help people, all this also does not mean that these arts and sciences should not be commercial...make your money, but don't exploit people by pretending to be what you are not.
just today i was reading manvir singh's blog in which he has described his experience under the title 'money money money', i also know many people, who have had similar experiences, of sewadars, jathedars trying to extract money from them...is there any solution...i don't know..

2 Comments:

Blogger Otpreka Singh said...

interesting post

1:00 PM  
Blogger satbirsingh said...

thank you....

5:26 PM  

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