From Bondage to Freedom

The moment you make a decision you are drifting; you are changing track. The decisions that you make depends on the options that you have. The options are in your mind in the form of thoughts. You pick up a thought and act or not act on it. The thoughts that you have today depends on your birth and your birth in not in your control. You cannot choose your parents or the family or the environment in which you will be born. This is decided by existence or God or Nature, whatever you may call it. Today If I am an engineer, the Idea of being an engineer must have come from my parents or from the education that was provided to me by my parents. The thought must have come to me from somewhere outside, which depends on the environment in which I was born and my birth was not decided by me. So whatever I do, it is the decision of creation or existence or God. So we see that we remain confined to our small world. This is the case with everyone of us. We are bound by our world in which we were born. And we keep circling within our small worlds. We are limited within our small worlds. Our actions are limited by our thoughts and our thoughts are limited by our births. We are constantly drifting, but drifting within our worlds. Whatever we do, we are confined to our world. In the modern times, our small world is the whole world because we all are connected. We know what someone else is doing, who may be half the world away. We can get ideas and thoughts from someone else who is half way around the world. Whatever we do, we are as if chained to our own worlds. This is the case with all the people in this world. Each one of us is acting according to the thoughts they have. All of us being born in the same connected planet have similar thoughts and we act according to our thoughts. Millions of people have similar thoughts and when so many people are acting on similar thoughts using their will power (only when your will is acted on a thought there is action), they are bound to clash with each other and there is bound to be conflict. There is bound to be suffering. Someone will win and someone will lose. No one can always win. There has to be loss and one cannot win all the time. This is the wheel of the world and it is dangerous. Because of this the world is made of opposites – Happiness and sorrow, of victory and defeat, of good and bad. This is why our lives are full of both. One cannot say that one will always be a winner and one will always be happy. This is the case with everyone. To an ordinary man, he is born into bondage. Being in bondage he suffers. He cannot get out of this bondage.

If you look closely, every day we make decisions are all decisions are for ourselves. We all want to earn money, we all want to have a good position in society, we want power, we want to be famous, we want to do great business, we want a better job, we want a good house, and we want a peaceful family, a good husband, a good wife, good children and a lot more. In every action of us there is an “I” or “ME” included. There cannot be action without this “I”. Everything that we do is for ourselves. The decisions we make every day is because of this “I”.  There are millions of people in the planet, working for their “I”. This “I” makes us act. This “I” makes us move forward in life. And all these “I”s are bound to clash with each other. There is suffering, there is conflict, and there is killing and violence. The world moves because of all the “I”s otherwise there would be no movement. The wheel of the world moves because all the “I”s and this wheel is dangerous. It creates enormous suffering for all the people.

There are two ways to freedom from this bondage.

• One, if you decide NOT to drift at all. You decide not make a decision at all. You decide once and for all not to act on your thoughts, whatever your  thoughts may be, whatever may be the source of your thoughts, and you will  not act. You leave the world, and become a recluse. You do not care about this world – you do not care about your parents, wife, children or husband. You do not care about anything at all. You do not care about what will  happen to them if you leave them forever. You say “I don’t want anything” and leave. In this path, only the “I” remains and everything else is renounced. If you are the “I” and the world is “you” – the “You” or everything other than “I” vanishes, leaving only the pure “I”. If you see closely using your intellect, then you will know that the “I” exist because of the “You”. Without the “You” there is no “I”. So, when the “You”  is completely removed by slowly renouncing the “You”, when the “You” is no  more, the “I” also vanishes – leaving you enlightened – leaving you completely Free. You become a Buddha.
• Two, if  you decide to drift as and when required as if the drift is being done by      Creation or existence. You will provide no resistance to drift. This is  just the opposite of the first method. You decide to be in this world, drift and change course. You care about everything, do everything; you use your will to act on your thoughts. But if you act on all your thoughts then there s bound to be conflict. There is bound to be suffering. What to do then? The problem is not because of your action, but on the results of the actions. The results cause suffering – the results make you win or lose, the results make your victorious or make you a failure. The results will make us drift in life. In this method, you have to leave the results in the hands of God. In this method, you will just drift and not bother about drifting.

If we are being driven by god, then all we have is free time. The journey is his responsibility, ours. We do not know where we will drift, where we will change course. He will drive us to our goals; we need not bother to reach. If you look back, we have been drifting along all our lives and the point where we are today is because of all the drifts that had taken place in the past. So, we have lots and lots of time. Time does not matter. One need not be in a hurry at all. Even if you are late, it does not matter. Even if you miss something it does not matter. For example, in a 10 hour journey, what do you do? You may read; you may listen to music; you may chat with other co passengers or with anyone travelling with you. You are free to do whatever you want. You may look out of the window and enjoy the scenery. You may go to sleep. Whatever you do, it is not going to affect the journey. Because whatever you do, you are journeying in the right direction. No time is going to be wasted.  You need not worry about what will happen if you do not do what you are doing during the journey. You may do something or not do something – it does not matter.

Similarly in life, whatever you do, no time is going to be wasted because you are driven by God. If you cry, you are not wasting time, if you read or if you celebrate and enjoy your journey, you are not wasting any time.

If the results are in his control, then we are free from the results, then the responsibility is on His shoulders or on existence. He will take you wherever He has to take you and He is will definitely take you.

If you are crying – you are passing time by crying

If you are angry – you are just passing time by being angry

If you are doing business – you are passing time by doing business

If you are driving – you are still passing time by driving

If you are working – you are still passing time by working

If you are sad – you are passing time by being sad

If you are depressed – you are passing time by being depressed

If you are celebrating and rejoicing – then you are passing time by celebrating

If you are serious about something or someone – you are just passing time by being serious

If you are fighting with someone – then you are passing time by fighting with that person

If you do not do anything – even then you are passing time by doing nothing

When you are passing time, you are just passing time, there is no responsibility on you – you can take work as a play, whatever you do – and when you are passing time, without any responsibility of results – you can celebrate.

All you do is just pass time – you have nothing else to do – there is no hurry – your arrival will be decided by him – and in the mean time you have to pass your time. And while in a journey we always enjoy. At least the journey is enjoyed – we do not know what will happen when we arrive – but relax and enjoy the journey because we are not driving the bus or train, we do not have to bother about the route, we do not have to bother about whether we are in the right direction or not. We know that we will arrive and this makes us relax. Remember that this journey is an unending journey so there is rejoicing and celebrating all our lives. There is freedom all our lives – no matter where we are and what we do.

In the process of being drifted, understand that God is drifting you, this drifting is your journey and during the process – celebrate and enjoy – whatever you are doing, wherever you are – just enjoy – know that what you are doing does not matter and wherever you are does not matter.

Do whatever you are doing, but change a little in the way you think. You have to keep in mind one line “NOT ME, BUT THOU ART”.

You do whatever you do, but know that it is not for you that you are doing this but for the other.

• If you are getting married – You marry for not your happiness, but for the happiness for your spouse.
• If you are earning money – you are not earning money for yourself or for your happiness but for your family and others
• If you buying a house – you are buying it for the happiness for your family for the safety and security of your family
• If you are working – you are working for the betterment of your family – to give them a good life
• While taking decisions, while acting on your thoughts – know that all your actions will be for the other and not for yourself
• If you are struggling – know that you are struggling for others and not yourself

It will be as if, you are slowly removing yourself from the picture, leaving behind the conflict. It is as if you are making the wheel of the world move freely by not being a block and getting crushed in between. It is as if you are making the life of others easier by not being a block on their way. It is nothing but just a change in the thought process. In this case, you put yourself last and others ahead of you. This will help to slowly do away with the “I”. The “I” will slowly vanish and you will be left with only “you”. And when the “I” vanishes, the “you” also vanishes leaving you enlightened – you become a Buddha.

Life is a Celebration!

I am sure all of you remember that when we were in school, we had many times gone for class trips or picnics with our class. If you remember well, the best time spent during the trip was during the journey to the picnic spot and the return. The best time was when we were in the bus. We spent the time singing and dancing, eating, looking out of the window enjoying the scenery around. The journey to the spot and return was the best time. You know why? Because we were free in the bus. We did not have to think about whether we were going in the right direction. We were safe inside the bus. We knew that we would reach out destination in time. The traffic on the road did not bother us. Out parents were not there to scold us or warn us – tell us not to do this and that. All we had was free time. We had free time to do whatever we want – sing, dance, enjoy, listen to music, shout out loud – no matter what we do, we would reach our destination.

Life is like this. We are being driven in a bus to our destination. There is no chance that we can be driven in the wrong direction. All we have is free time to dance, enjoy and sing.

If you look closely, things are happening. We have always tried to know, but we never knew the results. We never knew what would happen.  Things just happened! No matter what goals or objectives we had, things happened on their own. The happening or non-happening of the events has brought us where we are today. A small happening or non-happening changes the course of our lives. Small things like a little delay, in any event, changes a lot in our lives but we are unaware.

Few years before the marriage of my parents they never knew that they are going to be married to each other. Before my birth, they did not know that I would be born. They of course knew that a baby will be born, but they did not know that it would be me. Neither did I know that I am going to be born nor did I not know that I would be born to my parents. My birth was not in my control. To me and also to my parents it just happened. Had I been born to some Industrialist or politician, the course of my life would have been different and had I been born to a not so well to do family, the course of my life would have been different.  To me it was a matter of chance, but it may not be so to Existence or GOD. God or Existence or creation must have had some plan.

I went to a particular school and the friends I made while in school would not have been my friends if I did not go to that particular school.  My friends influenced my life to some extent. We all influence each other in one way or the other. I lost two years after my school due to illness. I was two years behind my peers. God knows what would have happened if I did not lose these two years. I fell ill, and it changed the course of my life. I did not want to fall ill, but I fell. I did not want to lose two years, but it happened. Every small and big event is changing the course of our lives. And all of these events are beyond our control. They just happen. We do not know why they happen but they just happen. We are moving. But the directions in which we move are not in our control. It is as if we are being automatically pulled but one event after another and we are moving.  I went to college, even there the friends I made, would not have been my friends if I did not go to that college. Even the computer that I am using not while writing this blog, has come to me without my control. It has just come to me. At least I believe so.

The goals that we have in life, does not matter at all, because whatever happens, it is beyond our control. If things would have been in our control, then there would have been no failures. We all would have become utterly successful in all our endeavours.  But it is not the case. We have suffered failures, and each failure has changed the course of our lives. I wanted to study Aerospace Engineering at Caltech and work in the NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, but today Caltech does not appear even in my dreams, because the course of my life changed the day my application was rejected. The day my application was rejected, I did something else and that has made me what I am today. Every event changes the course of our lives and we do not know what will happen. The future is totally unknown. It is definitely not in our control. We are just being dragged from one place to another automatically. We are drifting at every point in our lives, we know it or not.

This way we all are moving. The course of our lives is not in our hands. This is the case with all of us. For every one of us the course of our lives is not in our hands.  So I have no reason to laugh at someone else’s failure or be jealous of someone else’s success. The person who is a failure is not responsible for his failure or the person who is a success has no reason to be proud or take credit for his success. The same is applicable to me as well.

We are moving being a part of the law and it is almost impossible to get out of this motion. We are entangled the moment we are born. Only a man with a gigantic will, like Buddha, would have done that. Others are drifting along.

The situation is like that of a bus, where the driver of the bus is existence or God. He is driving us all. All of us are in the same bus. We have made our own worlds in this bus, we have made or goals in this bus and all our happiness and sorrows are in this bus only. But no matter what we do, we are in this bus and are being taken towards the right direction.

We do not have any responsibility of driving the bus. But we have forgotten that the bus is being driven by God, we think that we are driving the bus and we strive and toil to drive the bus in the direction in which we want it to go. But it does not happen. It is driven by a force much more powerful that what we are. It is driven by existence or creation. This has to be remembered.

No matter how much you try to stop the bus or change the direction according to your wish, it travels on its own. It changes direction on its own. No matter what you do, you are moving with the bus in the direction in which the bus wants you to go. It is utter foolishness to change the direction of the bus according our wish or stop the bus. The bus will never stop. It will move taking you along with it.

When we are being driven by existence, we must have complete trust in existence. It is the same driver that is driving everything in this universe. It is the same driver that is driving the planets around the sun. We are being driven towards the goal and we should not bother about reaching the goal, because we will reach no matter what.

We are moving in the direction of the goal, without any effort we are moving in the direction of the goal. We need not put any effort to reach the goal – it would be utter foolishness.

Rather

• Have trust in the driver of the Bus and know that He is driving us in the correct direction. There is no option to go wrong. He is utterly correct
• We should start enjoying the journey, look out of the window and enjoy the scenery around.
• We should start rejoicing and celebrating that we are in the right direction always and all the time.
• We are in a bus, which is being driven by God – we should not bother about where he is taking us, he is invariably taking us in the right direction –
• Thinking this all our burden is relieved – the responsibility drops from our shoulders – and we feel free completely. We can enjoy our journey.
• We are free that we are not driving the bus; it is not our responsibility to drive the bus. You may go in the wrong direction, but he will not. There is no chance of going wrong.
• It is up to us how we would spend this time – by crying or by rejoicing and celebrating
• Even if we are crying, it does not make any difference, because even if you are crying you are crying in the bus and the bus is being taken in the right direction. You are just passing your time by crying.
• Understand that no matter what you do, you are in the right direction, you are being driven by God, there is no responsibility of yours in taking yourself along, and you are BEING taken.
• No matter what you do – laugh, cry, celebrate, work, compete with each other – everything you are doing in the bus and you are just passing your time while you are travelling.
• Just leave the steering wheel and let God drive – he will change lanes and take turn exactly in the right places – we need not bother at all – just pass your time with whatever you want to do. The choice is yours because the responsibility is not yours.
• While being driven – we should enjoy the journey – enjoy our freedom just like the way we enjoy when we go for a picnic with friends – when we do not drive and we just enjoy the journey singing and dancing all along the way.
• Everyone of us, no matter what we do, is being taken the right direction – even when he is crying or laughing or is under great depression – he is moving towards the goal and being driven by GOD or existence.
• In the bus, happiness and sadness does not matter at all – it does not make a difference because we are moving – though we are crying or laughing – we are moving
• Whole life is just a “time-pass” because you do not have the burden of carrying yourself along. You have loads of time. Do whatever you want – celebrate.

SINCE WE ARE BEING DRIVEN BY GOD, WE SHOULD DO NOTHING BUT JUST ENJOY. THE BURDEN IS HIS. WE HAVE A CHOICE BETWEEN CRYRING AND REJOICING – THESE TWO DOES NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE. WE SHOULD JUST ENJOY AND GIVE UP ALL RESPONSIBILITY. HE WILL TAKE CARE.

Whenever I travel by train alone – I really enjoy, there may be trouble the moment I get off, I might have a serious meeting or serious work, but during the journey, till the time I am in the train, till the time I do not get off, I enjoy. Here we never have to get off. So whole life is just rejoicing and doing things we want. Whatever we do, it does not make a difference.

• Have goals, but know that this goal is yours and NOT THAT OF GOD. While in the journey, you can have goals but the direction of travel will be decided by the Driver (GOD)– this is temporary – Your goals are just a “time pass” while in the bus – just a game you are playing for passing time and nothing else – know that we are automatically being driven to the GOAL OF EXISTENCE.
• No achievement will make you happy as long as your goal does not match with the goal of the Driver (GOD)  – Go wherever he takes you – be in God’s Bus and just enjoy – know that you are already being taken to the goal and you are in the right direction  – everything is just a play – just rejoicing and celebrating
• If you are too much with your personal goals, you are bound to lose, because you are being driven by someone else, who has HIS own plans
• Know that all goals are time pass are just for fun – this is similar to the things that you do when you are going to a picnic with friends.
• What you do to others and what others do to you – do not make a difference – it is all the same – all games and play – games played during the journey –
• Understand that life is taking you and it will take you no matter what you do – he has brought you here and he will also take you wherever it has to take you – do not fear – have trust.
• Whether you do or you are forced to do – nothing will be good or bad – Both are games – Plays – and nothing more.

JUST CELEBRATE AND REJOICE – HE IS HOLDING YOUR HAND – DO NOT FEAR