If truth be told

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1. kr4Jul 2015
   I've defined it already. As far as experience is concerned, there are multiple systematic paths (under different branches of Yoga) to experience this non-material thing which is self only, but unfortunately you can't do it with your very limited material senses. Do you realize the subtle level at which brain operates? when your instruments can't fathom subtleness of your brain, how can such instruments even get the glimps of consciousness which is subtler than mind.

   It hardly takes an year or two under proper guidance and full commitment to get glimpses of this subtlemost thing, do you dare to invest?

   If you fanatically stick to a viewpoint without even evaluating the other view with an open mind, you risk of repeating what religious fanaticism did with pre-modern scientists in the west.

   And regarding downvotes, do you think I care? I could have posted more popular comment in favor of materialism to gain more material points :p

   Edit: To learn more, you can read autobiographies of two living yogis [0] and [1]. A succinct yet most authoritative practical guide is Yoga Sutras [2].

   0. http://www.amazon.in/If-Truth-Be-Told-Memoir/dp/9351368068/ 1. http://www.amazon.com/Apprenticed-Himalayan-Master-Yogis-Aut... 2. http://www.swamij.com/index-yoga-meditation-yoga-sutras.htm

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2. TriNetraApr 2023
   A sublime experience extracted from [0] by a monk, living for 100 days in complete solitude doing sadhana (meditative practice) in a makeshift hut on icy Himalayan mountain/forest (2011), attaining realization during this final phase of his sadhana:

   > I had to learn how to absorb the powerful energies flowing through me. Thus, I decided to enter strict solitude for a hundred days. I needed this time to absorb the vision.

   > I informed Pradeep about my plan and his meticulous management made it possible. I changed my routine and began meditating from 7 p.m. until 4 a.m. If, once or twice a month, the villagers passed this way for hay, Pradeep would tell them to keep absolutely quiet. They maintained both distance and silence. During this period, I neither met nor saw anyone. Pradeep would wake up at 1 a.m., take a bath, say his prayers and prepare my meal before 4 a.m. He would come to the little temple near my hut, ring a bell and hide behind the temple wall so that we did not see each other. I would then step out and go to his hut for my meal. Eating would take me nearly an hour because it was nothing short of a ritual for me. It was an opportunity to express my gratitude to Mother Nature, to the farmers who produced the grain and to Pradeep who cooked it. The digestive fire in the stomach is called vaishvanara. I would offer every bite to this fire, akin to the fire offering in a yajna. I still do, for that matter.

   > While I was gone, Pradeep would wait for me quietly or refill the water bucket in my hut. He’d also fix the tarpaulin on the roof in case a storm had blown it about at night. If I needed to communicate something, I wrote a note and left it in his hut.

   > Towards the end of March, I felt a shooting pain near my kidney. I was startled because I had already perfected my posture and wasn’t expecting any more pains. I’d already been through excruciating knee pains, severe backaches, a tired body and aching arms and shoulders. What was this new pain? The middle plank of my bed had completely sunk, making it an uneven and unsuitable surface to sit on; perhaps my posture was the cause of the pain. I placed my pillow on the plank but this didn’t help. I took an hour out of my sleep time and did some yoga asanas to stretch my body; this alleviated the pain just a little. It was becoming impossible for me to sit still for hours at a time, which is what I needed to do. I wasn’t going to give up on my 150-day meditation though; I had to get rid of this pain. Reflecting on the pain, it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen the sun for nearly two-and- a-half months. I took my morning meals when it was still dark. I used to step out occasionally during the day, but I hadn’t been out at all in the sunlight for nearly ten weeks now. I had been living in an extremely cold hut and didn’t use a fire to warm myself. The next day, instead of yoga, I spread a mat and sat outside with my back towards the sun. That night the pain subsided to a large extent. I repeated the process for the next few days and the pain disappeared. I would never know what really caused it, but sitting in the sun relieved it.

   > Enjoying the sweetness of solitude, diving deep into the ocean of a still mind, I passed my days in deep meditation and crystal-clear awareness. I was acutely aware of everything around me: the sounds of hornets and wasps, a spider crawling on the wall, every drop of rain that fell. Any thought that emerged in my mind would not go unnoticed. This was truly an extraordinary level of awareness. My intuitive faculties entered a new dimension. No matter what question I thought of, an inner voice gave me the answer. One day, during meditation, the same inner voice instructed me to visit Kamakhya temple. I would get sarvoch tantric diksha, the highest tantric initiation there, it said. I was reminded of Bhairavi Ma who had foretold this in Badrinath. I decided to visit Kamakhya after the completion of my sadhana. But, right now, I simply lived in the present moment. I was the a boat sailing in an ocean of bliss; actually, I was the ocean of bliss itself.

   > The silence within me was beyond description. Just as you churn milk and it turns into butter, and that butter can never become milk again, my mind had reached an irreversible state of peace and joy. I felt that to remain unaffected, no matter what the circumstances, to be unmoved by someone’s birth, death, acceptance, rejection, praise or criticism—this sense of dispassion and detachment was arising from within me, without any effort. I opened my notepad and scribbled in it: ‘Self-realization is not an instantaneous act. We may have an aha moment but it is mindfulness that allows us to navigate the world with the utmost awareness of our verbal, mental and physical actions. It is one thing to grasp that we are not just the body, but it is another thing altogether not to react when someone hurts us. We may recognize that anger destroys our peace of mind, but to remain calm, no matter how strong the provocation—that is real realization. Why did it take the Buddha six years to achieve liberation? If it was an instantaneous thing, he could have had it in the first month. It took Mahavira ten years and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa twelve years. The experiences, lessons, insights add up, finally bringing one to the point of realization. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius but it takes a little while to get to that temperature. The flame that heats the water already holds the potential to burn as powerfully as the sun, but it is the water that needs to come to a boil. The soul or consciousness is ever pure; it is the conscious mind that needs to reach boiling point, while the subconscious has to imbibe the insights and the learning.

   0: https://www.amazon.com/If-Truth-Be-Told-A-Monks-Memoir-Om-Sw...

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3. kr4Jun 2015
   (continueing remaining post)

   considering it an experiment, if successful, would not only be helpful for our planet but also rewarding for our individual selves. I can definitely squeeze 5 minutes out of 70080 minutes per week to see if there’s any truth in it.

   PS. Just like U.S. continues to produce brilliant research in technologies and material sciences, India continues to produce brilliant souls for spiritual evolution and liberation of human beings. I consider Om Swami amongst one of such evolved soul. But he’s treaded life more or less like one of us as you’d learn from his memoir [9]

   " In the 1990s, an eighteen-year-old headed to Australia to realize his worldly dreams. With little money or support, he struggled to survive there. Two years later, he was earning an annual income of $250,000; by the age of twenty-six, he was a multimillionaire. Yet, worldly success was merely a way station on a journey that began years ago.

   As an eight-year-old, he saw a vision of God in a dream, an experience that left him with a sense of deep joy and peace. The dream triggered off his desire to meet God, to see a manifestation of the Divine. He practiced astrology, intense meditation and tantra, yet God was nowhere in sight. Deeply frustrated, he dived into materialistic pursuits to distract himself from the restlessness within.

   After years of living the good life, he found he could no longer ignore the old restlessness; worldly pleasures just couldn't fill the void within. He moved back to India and finally did what he had always yearned to do: renounce the world and become a monk.

   In the Himalayas, in terrifying silence and solitude, Om Swami practised intense meditation. Death was always close as he confronted starvation, the fierce elements and wild animals. Finally, his sadhana brought him to the ultimate realization: I am what I have been seeking.

   This is an astounding memoir of the making of a spiritual life in today's challenging and often confusing times. If Truth Be Told: A Monk's Memoir will light up your path, wherever you are on your life's journey. "

   0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54pr9bQ8iiA 1: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/18/world/60-million-people-fl... 2: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/08/yes-it-c... 3: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/amr-report... 4: http://omswami.com/2015/06/the-greatest-secret.html 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation 6: http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/Rama.html 7: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menninger_Foundation 8: http://www.swamij.com/pdf/swami-rama-beyond-biofeedback.pdf 9: http://www.amazon.in/If-Truth-Be-Told-Memoir/dp/9351368068/

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4. kr4Dec 2014
   I plan to read this: "If Truth Be Told: A Monk's Memoir" http://www.amazon.in/If-Truth-Be-Told-Memoir/dp/9351368068/

   " In the 1990s, an eighteen-year-old headed to Australia to realize his worldly dreams. With little money or support, he struggled to survive there. Two years later, he was earning an annual income of $250,000; by the age of twenty-six, he was a multimillionaire. Yet, worldly success was merely a way station on a journey that began years ago. As an eight-year-old, he saw a vision of God in a dream, an experience that left him with a sense of deep joy and peace. The dream triggered off his desire to meet God, to see a manifestation of the Divine. He practised astrology, intense meditation and tantra, yet God was nowhere in sight. Deeply frustrated, he dived into materialistic pursuits to distract himself from the restlessness within. After years of living the good life, he found he could no longer ignore the old restlessness; worldly pleasures just couldn’t fill the void within. He moved back to India and finally did what he had always yearned to do: renounce the world and become a monk. In the Himalayas, in terrifying silence and solitude, Om Swami practised intense meditation. Death was always close as he confronted starvation, the fierce elements and wild animals. Finally, his sadhana brought him to the ultimate "

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