Nisargadatta Maharaj, Oneness Conscioussness and 13 Ahau
Submitted by Fatih Kecelioglu on July 15, 2010 - 10:04pm
Intuitively I have been finding Nisargaddata Maharaj and the way he teaches Advaita Vedanta very inspiring. Recently I discovered why. This is a supreme way to describe the so called "Oneness Consciousness" that we all talk about related with the end of the Mayan calendar. Also depending on my experience of practicing different spiritual paths for many years (Vipassana, Sufism, Tantra, different Yogic paths...) I would say that Advaita Vedanta is pretty much of a direct path. Well, you might say Vipassana or Tantra would also be direct ways. However, it is not possible to share the essence of these teaching over internet where we can mainly use texts and share intellectual insights...
And Maharaj offers a wonderful intellectual understanding on what the "Oneness Consciousness" is (for him it is "I Am") and practical ways to achieve it. Of course it is still not an easy task to accomplish. One needs stillness of the mind, a superb aspiration of the heart and countless hours spent in meditation...
Let us come to another reason that led me to share Maharaj's teachings. According to the Tzolkin he is 13 Ahau, the final energy combination which resonates with the end of time, the Oneness Consciousness. This is something I discovered after I had my intuitive resonance with him. Let us look at a biographical text about him from the book “I Am That”.
“Writing a biographical note on Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj is a frustrating and unrewarding task. For, not only the exact date of his birth is unknown, but no verified facts concerning the early years of his life are available. However, some of his elderly relatives and friends say that he was born in the month of March 1897 on a full moon day, which coincided with the festival of Hanuman Jayanti…” (I Am That, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, page xi)
Well, the full moon in March 1897 was mostly happening thorough the 19th of the month. And that was a 13 Ahau day… This makes perfect sense to me since his teachings are complete, expressed in the highest form possible and directly leading to the Oneness Consciousness. Therefore, I think he exemplifies a perfect teacher who can teach the Oneness Consciousness, teach about 13 Ahau…
So let me share with you a wonderful piece from "I Am That":
The Self Stands Beyond Mind
Questioner: As a child fairly often I experienced states of com-plete happiness, verging on ecstasy: Later, they ceased, But since I came to India they reappeared, particularly after I met you. Yet these states, however wonderful, are not lasting. They come and go and there is no knowing when they will come back.
Maharaj: How can anything be steady in a mind which itself is not steady?
Q: How can I make my mind steady?
M: How can an unsteady mind make itself steady? Of course it cannot. It is the nature of the mind to roam about. All you can do is to shift the focus of consciousness beyond the mind.
Q: How is it done?
M: Refuse all thoughts except one: the thought ‘I am’. The mind will rebel in the beginning, but with patience and perseverance it will yield and keep quiet. Once you are quiet, things will begin
to happen spontaneously and quite naturally, without any inter-ference on your part.
Q: Can I avoid this protracted battle with my mind?
M: Yes, you can. Just live your life as it comes, but alertly,watchfully, allowing everything to happen as it happens, doing the natural things the natural way, suffering, rejoicing — as life brings. This also is a way.
Q: Well, then I can as well marry, have children, run a business... be happy.
M: Sure. You may or may not be happy, take it in your stride.
Q: Yet I want happiness.
M: True happiness cannot be found in things that change and pass away. Pleasure and pain alternate inexorably. Happiness comes from the self and can be found in the self only. Find your real self (swarupa) and all else will come with it.
Q: If my real self is peace and love, why is it so restless?
M: It is not your real being that is restless, but its reflection in the mind appears restless because the mind is restless. It is just like the reflection of the moon in the water stirred by the wind. The wind of desire stirs the mind and the ‘me’, which is but a re-flection of the Self in the mind, appears changeful. But these ideas of movement, of restlessness, of pleasure and pain are all in the mind. The Self stands beyond the mind, aware, but un-concerned.
Q: How to reach it?
M: You are the Self, here and now. Leave the mind alone, stand aware and unconcerned and you will realize that to stand alert but detached, watching events come and go, is an aspect of your real nature.
Q: What are the other aspects?
M: The aspects are infinite in number. Realize one, and you will realize all.
Q: Tell me some thing that would help me.
M: You know best what you need!
Q: I am restless. How can I gain peace?
M: For what do you need peace?
Q: To be happy.
M: Are you not happy now?
Q: No, I am not.
M: What makes you unhappy?
Q: I have what I don’t want, and I want what I don’t have.
M: Why don’t you invert it: want what you have and care not for what you don’t have?
Q: I want what is pleasant and don’t want what is painful.
M: How do you know what is pleasant and what is not?
Q: From past experience, of course.
M: Guided by memory you have been pursuing the pleasant and shunning the unpleasant. Have you succeeded?
Q: No, I have not. The pleasant does not last. Pain sets in again.
M: Which pain?
Q: The desire for pleasure, the fear of pain, both are states of distress. Is there a state of unalloyed
pleasure?
M: Every pleasure, physical or mental, needs an instrument. Both the physical and mental instruments are material, they get tired and worn out. The pleasure they yield is necessarily limited in intensity and duration. Pain is the background of all your pleasures. You want them because you suffer. On the other hand, the very search for pleasure is the cause of pain. It is a vicious circle.
Q: I can see the mechanism of my confusion, but I do not see my way out of it.
M: The very examination of the mechanism shows the way. After all, your confusion is only in your mind, which never rebel-led so far against confusion and never got to grips with it. It re-belled only against pain.
Q: So, all I can do is to stay confused?
M: Be alert. Question, observe, investigate, learn all you can about confusion, how it operates, what it does to you and others. By being clear about confusion you become clear of confusion.
Q: When I look into myself, I find my strongest desire is to create a monument, to build something which will outlast me. Even when I think of a home, wife and child, it is because it is a lasting, solid, testimony to myself.
M: Right, build yourself a monument. How do you propose to do it?
Q: It matters little what I build, as long as it is permanent.
M: Surely, you can see for yourself that nothing is permanent. All wears out, breaks down, dissolves. The very ground on which you build gives way. What can you build that will outlast all?
Q: Intellectually, verbally, I am aware that all is transient. Yet, somehow my heart wants permanency. I want to create some-thing that lasts.
M: Then you must build it of something lasting. What have you that is lasting? Neither your body nor mind will last. You must look elsewhere.
Q: I long for permanency, but I find it nowhere.
M: Are you, yourself, not permanent?
Q: I was born, I shall die.
M: Can you truly say you were not before you were born and can you possibly say when dead: ‘Now I am no more’? You can-not say from your own experience that you are not. You can only say ‘I am’. Others too cannot tell you ‘you are not’.
Q: There is no ‘I am’ in sleep.
M: Before you make such sweeping statements, examine care-fully your waking state. You will soon discover that it is full of gaps, when the mind blanks out. Notice how little you remember even when fully awake. You cannot say that you were not con-scious during sleep. You just don’t remember. A gap in memory is not necessarily a gap in consciousness.
Q: Can I make myself remember my state of deep sleep?
M: Of course! By eliminating the intervals of inadvertence dur-ing your waking hours you will gradually eliminate the long interval of absent-mindedness, which you call sleep. You will be aware that you are asleep.
Q: Yet, the problem of permanency, of continuity of being, is not solved.
M: Permanency is a mere idea, born of the action of time. Timeagain depends on memory. By permanency you mean unfailing memory through endless time. You want to eternalize the mind, which is not possible.
Q: Then what is eternal?
M: That which does not change with time. You cannot eter-nalize a transient thing — only the changeless is eternal.
Q: I am familiar with the general sense of what you say. I do not crave for more knowledge. All I want is peace.
M: You can have for the asking all the peace you want.
Q: I am asking.
M: You must ask with an undivided heart and live an integrated life.
Q: How?
M: Detach yourself from all that makes your mind restless. Re-nounce all that disturbs its peace. If you want peace, deserve it.
Q: Surely everybody deserves peace.
M: Those only deserve it, who don’t disturb it.
Q: In what way do I disturb peace?
M: By being a slave to your desires and fears.
Q: Even when they are justified?
M: Emotional reactions, born of ignorance or inadvertence, are never justified. Seek a clear mind and a clean heart. All you need is to keep quietly alert, enquiring into the real nature of yourself. This is the only way to peace.
Taken from the book “I am That” by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, The Acorn Press, North Carolina, 1988.
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Reply to Ken's comment
Thank you so much for your comments Ken.
Allthough I am a Mayan calendar teacher and even giving consultancy depending on the days signs, I am not as familiar with the Mayan culture as you are. My path leads me to the Eastern traditions and not only to Vedanta. I have been practising a synthesis of Advaita Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism and Sufism supported with Hatha Yoga and Tantric practices.
The main reason I like Maharaj’s words is that he is very simple, clear cut and to the point. However, I admit that Vedanta in itself is pretty dry and physical world is perceived not as “real”. Nevertheless I would say that the Vedanta philosophy, and especially Advaita Vedanta is a part of a synthesis for me. My teachers have mainly adopted Kashmiri Shaivist approach, which is a Tantric philosophy that does not ignore the manifestation but see it as divine. Also Sufi poetry is something I am in love with and soon I will be sharing some insights in that direction.
Namaste & In Lak'ech
Making the World Tree Grow
Thanks, Fatih. I have also studied both traditions. My academic field was Eastern Studies, with a specialty in classical Sanskrit. I also spent a winter living with the Maya and studying the Calendar
I think the Maya would agree with your Kashmiri Tantric teachers to the effect that the manifestation is divine. Sometimes the Maya call this world of manifestation "the Blossoming World." When I was at the church in the town of Santiago Atitlan, I could not help noticing the icon of the crucified Christ in the central position. Unlike other Christian icons, he was not dripping with blood. He was blossoming with flowers!
I would be interested in hearing your insights into Sufi poetry. Most of the Daykeepers I met regard the Popol Vuh (also called Pop Wuj) as their principal scripture. Here, it says that the gods created humans to sing out in praise. To praise the Gods is the same thing as singing in praise of the Blossoming World, for indeed the Maya perceive no difference between the two. Thus every Daykeeper is a prayer-maker, and every prayer-maker is a poet. The beauty of our words makes the World Tree grow. Among the spiritual traditions of this world, Sufism is the only one I have encountered which shares the same reverence for poetic beauty as does the Mayan tradition.
I look forward to your insights.
Dear Ken, The Christ icon in
Dear Ken,
The Christ icon in Atitlan sounds very interesting. Not only Sufism, I believe the Indian tradition also has a great love for the divine. As Sri Aurobindo says Judaism created the fear of God, Bhakti Yoga created the love of God. Of course Sufism expresses a beautiful love of God through poetry. In India there are many sages or mystic poets that are praised both by Hindus and Muslims. One of them is Laleshwari from Kashmir:
O infinite Consciousness,
brimming with elixir,
You live within my body,
and I worship only You.
I do not care
if I die, take birth,
or pass into some other state.
These things are so ordinary now.
Mevlana Celalledin Rumi from Anatolia says,
"My friend, the sufi is the friend of the present moment. To say tomorrow is not our way."
This applies a lot to the day keepers I think. To live the fullness of the moment.
GLAD TO HEAR YOUR VOICE
My beloved brother Fatih:
I am glad to see that you started blogging again after a long silence. I am always delighted to hear your true and honest voice. I know how hard you have been working these many years and I rejoice in your earnest, sincere and genuine expression of the truth(s) you have so painstakingly discovered.
May I suggest that you refrain from quoting others in your blog? No matter how enlightened and/or lofty another may be, nothing compares to the nectar that flows from your pure and perfect heart. You, Fatih, are a master in your own right, although I understand that you may not see or experience yourself as such. Share your wisdom, dear Fatih, in its unadorned simplicity and watch the flowers blossom as light is increased.
I love you with a love supreme.
Shalom = Salaam = Shanti,
Lewis
My beloved brother Lewis,
It was suprising an interesting to see your comment here... We normally email these things to each other. But this time it seems the dialogue will be publicized. :)
I hear your feedback about quoting. For me quoting mystics or sages is valid because of the fact that there things I cannot express that they did. However I think you have a point and I should express my own experiences and my own heart... This will definetely come, still in balance with quoting others...
With pure love,
Fatih
Vedanta and the Maya
It is interesting to examine parallels between Mayan spirituality and such Eastern traditions as Buddhism, Vedanta, or Taoism.
The Maya themselves enjoy this. Daykeepers are often the best educated members of their communities, and I remember many fond evenings discussing comparative religions with them, listening to their enthusiasm as they drew comparisons between their own traditions and those of other lands.
In terms of Vedanta, the Maya would definitely agree that the Divine is One but its manifestations are many. They perceive Ahau as a unity; the diverse gods of the ancient pantheon are simply manifestations of that unity, just as the countless deities of Hinduism are but archetypes or manifestations of one essential Divine reality. The Maya become very frustrated when Guatemalan Catholics continue to describe them as "polytheists." They see it differently.
Also, there is a similar emphasis on clarity of insight. In Mayan spirituality, lack of clarity, or confusion and indecision, are regarded as among the saddest of human conditions.
One substantial difference between the Mayan Path and Vedanta lies in the perception of physical reality. Shri Shankara, one of the great founders of Vedanta, called the human body a mass of guts and feces bound up in skin, something from which we ought to turn away. As in other Eastern traditions, the physical body and its needs are seen as negative, as blockages to spirituality. By contrast, the Maya see "ordinary life" (what a Hindu would call "householder's dharma") as the essential spiritual life. While I have known some Calendar priests to abstain from sex or certain foods for a day or two in order to build spiritual power for an important ritual, no one would ever think of fasting and celibacy as an appropriate or even sane lifestyle. It is our ability to undertake the path or ordinary life with grace and beauty that makes us spiritual.
Another difference: Vedanta often mistrusts mere words because of their tendency to work on the surface or even be used deceptively, to serve as barriers that cut us off from the Infinite. The Maya have a deep respect for poetic eloquence -- in my own experience, only Sufism with its beautiful tradition of spiritual poetry can equal the Mayan reverence for the beauty and importance of human words, human speech.
The Daykeepers love to discuss all these differences in outlook! There is SO much to be said about the unity of the Mayan Path with other spiritual traditions, even more so than with the differences.
Ken Johnson
www.jaguarwisdom.org