India, May - Jun 2000, Canada, Oct - Nov 2001
The Email Episode and Swami Nikhilananda
The book Turning Point was written in 2002 and this page is written in
2010, more than 8 years later. This page is inserted here on account of its relevance to this
chapter.
But then writing style is very different. It's a style that moves in and out of the main topic
visiting any related topic that it encounters on the way, finally ending with the main issue.
However, you may find such deviations quite interesting.
And, there is yet another aspect, in which contents of this page are very-very different from
almost all other pages of this very book. It touches upon some aspects of Christian World which
featured only in my later day writings. In early days like 1998-2002 I had no concept of Christian
World in mind.
When I wrote this book I was in totally another world, beyond the ambit of Maya, visiting occasionally
in and out of the ambit of Maya.
Now, with the taste of the other world I have finally been sent to this world to complete a
task entrusted. So, my outlook has changed, my understanding of the world has changed. I have
been equipped with vision to see this world as it is: plain and black & white. The vision
now penetrates the smoke screen to touch upon the bigger Truth that envelopes this world of
Maya. This makes all the difference between those who have travelled part of the distance in
their quest for the Supreme Soul and still continue to see this world of Maya with colored glasses
on their nose. May be they speak nicely and in a convincing manner but that does not take them
any closer to the bare Truth. In the process, they end up misleading all and sundry. And that
is also a part Maya itself. The cordon of Maya is too powerful to let the unworthy look beyond
the smoke screen.
Sunday 5 Dec 2010 10:38
After applying redesigned dynamic web template I was checking each file one by one, and
that is when I remembered this episode. It goes back to year 2000 May-June in India, and then
to 2001 Oct-Nov in Canada.
Year 2000
After my return to India in May 2000 I started living at Nerul, New Bombay, and visiting a nearby cybercafé for communicating with friends and colleagues through email. Majority of my communications were with Francis Yip, the Buddhist Monk and my ex-classmate. The subject would be revolving around spirituality related matters. Francis had different opinion on certain aspects and we would exchange thoughts extensively. It was natural that The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna as translated in English by Swami Nikhilananda would feature prominently in our discussions.
Year 2001
Post 9/11 I revisited Canada and have distinct memories of strict security checks at in-transit airports, as well as Air Canada's on-board lovely service, particularly the elderly gentleman who was our host (instead of air hostesses).
It was natural for me to get in touch with Francis and we met at some mall because we lived apart very long distance. I was at Etobicoke and he, I think (with time memories become vague), was at Unionville. I distinctly remember of couple of things: the location at a higher floor where we met, his asking me about Nike walking shoes I was wearing and commenting on them, my asking him of his age, a question he cleverly evaded, and finally our visiting an Indian Restaurant for lunch and one unique piece of talk about Swami Nikhilananda.
In the past it was he who had foot the bill and taken me to Chinese restaurant. This time also he offered to take me to some Chinese restaurant as he knew I loved Chinese food (back in Bombay whenever I had an opportunity I would treat myself with Chinese food, which happened to be Indian version of Chinese food as I learned after visiting Indonesia, Singapore and Canada). Francis also wanted to pay for the lunch probably because he knew that I had not taken up any job after leaving Canada as well as after returning to Canada. But for me it mattered not whether I was gainfully employed or not; all that mattered was that I was in a position to return the gesture. So I asked him if he knew of any good Indian restaurant in the vicinity to which he said yes. I offered to treat him with Indian cuisine which he gracefully accepted.
Year 1996-97
As I mentioned earlier we were classmates at (formerly) Honeywell's. Everybody in our class had come through unemployment insurance, government footing the bill for education so that they could start earning again, and more importantly start paying taxes to the government again. I was the only exception who (during my four and half years stay in Canada) always paid unemployment insurance to the government but never availed any benefit under that scheme. So, here as well, I was paying the fees from my pocket because I was gainfully employed immediately before coming to the school. Francis knew about this.
Students at Honeywell's would spend somewhere around seven-eight in the morning till nine-ten-eleven at night. The school called it an immersion course as they would complete the course in six months, which community colleges took two years for. During break students would rush to the restaurant at ground floor for meals (I vaguely recollect as if government's unemployment insurance paid a certain amount that took care of expenses other than school fee but I cannot say it with certainty after nine years gap). For me, it was all from my pocket and therefore, I avoided attractive meals at the restaurant and managed with alternatives like tea, biscuits, etc. Francis may have notice that. May be therefore, he never allowed me to pay when he took me for eating out.
Francis (and other few Chinese friends in the task-group that I was part of) shared the bill. I offered as a courtesy but they all declined. In any case, they were from Hong Kong business families (except Francis I guess) and may be it did not matter to them. They had taken me out to a very spacious and beautiful Chinese restaurant and ordered numerous delicious items one by one and I wouldn't forget that event. That was the first time I ate noodles with sticks and found how easy it was, something that I had never understood when I saw other Chinese people eat with sticks elsewhere, probably Indonesia, Singapore, etc. probably because I never felt I would be comfortable eating with sticks. But here my Chinese friends not only showed me how to hold and use sticks but also encouraged me to use them.
Earlier I was part of another group which comprised of East European, Chinese-Canadian women and Canadian men, and they would so openly talk and joke about sex while in the class, which I felt distracting as well as inopportune in class room environment. Later I changed to this Chinese group, all men, never discussed sex, and were helpful in studies.
Year 1996
Actually, in the entire class I seemed to be the only student who had no IT background. Everyone else that I spoke to had worked through their life in IT field, and that made a hell of difference, at such advanced age and such a fast-paced learning environment. Actually, it was wrong to call it a learning environment. It was more of a condensed session for brushing up prior knowledge, and for that one needed prior knowledge of the subject coupled with practical experience, neither of which I possessed.
Before taking admission I had discussed my concerns with people who interviewed me, and also told them point blank: "look, I am taking a great risk by quitting my job and joining this course without any prior background in IT segment, so please advise me sincerely how hard it would be on me to sail through this ordeal".
But they seemed to have had their eyes set on thousands of dollars that would come in by way of fees from me. Instead of guiding me appropriately they encouraged me to take up the course giving me an impression through their clever speech that I would be among many who were sailing in the same boat. Marketing a product is like telling half-truth and half-lie making it sound as the whole-truth. In time, I learned that The Institute of Computer Studies (formerly Honeywell's) is no exception; it happens to be the inherent [1] characteristics of Christian World in varying measure.
I had left a paid job in a small manufacturing company (where I had no threat of losing it, and was respectfully admired; for, I knew my job very well), and came to school because I had decided for it even before I had arrived in Canada, and having come here it had become clear to me that, in those days at least, it was essential to get a Canadian qualification in order to get into the white man's domain and deal with them squarely without any inhibition. Hence, it was necessary for me to equip myself with local educational qualification.
Year 1995 Oct
The first thing that I had done after landing in Toronto was to visit the Institute of Charted Accountants and I was politely told that even British CAs were required to prequalify themselves by taking CA examinations once again locally having gone through usual training procedure. So, the choice was very clear to me: if I must obtain a local qualification then why repeat the same when I was already a qualified CA and CS with twenty years of experience behind. I chose Information Technology for I have been a computer enthusiast from very beginning.
Year 1995-97
Indian qualifications, during previous millennium [2], were honored by those who had some or other connection with Indian subcontinent but they are often poor paymasters because we have the inherent desire for saving. We don't so easily live on borrowed money (something I call credit card dependency syndrome) but then, our current generation is fast catching up with Western (inherently Christian) tendencies (pre-marital sex among one thing besides starting to get slave of credit card dependency syndrome).
Employers with even remote connections with Indian subcontinent were also aware of what it needed to get into white man's domain, and they had turned equally wise (or opportunist) the Western (inherently Christian) way, and do not leave an opportunity to take advantage of new immigrants' compulsions.
Those employers (with remote Indian subcontinent connection) might also want to argue that they too faced similar constraints while competing with, or getting into white man's domain as suppliers of goods and services, and were required to keep their prices low enough to get an entry and retain that business; and in turn, they have no alternative but to pay equally low to those who approach them for not possessing local qualification.
Coming to Western (inherently Christian) ways, let us try to understand what did Canada do? I know of province Ontario where I lived and therefore I shall speak of that province alone. And in any case, it was that province alone which benefitted most from what Canada did during last decade of previous millennium. They opened the gate for immigrants almost from all over the world. They came to India, booked themselves in posh hotels, heavily (by those days standards) advertised, held meetings with those who aspired to go to the West, charged them good fee for attending those meetings to recover their expenditure, lured people to come to Canada. When these people landed in Canada from all over the globe you could witness serpentine queues at specially designated immigration counters, and one of the question they essentially asked everyone while fixing the residence permit (or whatever they called it those days) "how much money you have brought with you?"
Well, their eyes were on money from immigrants all the way from beginning. Those coming from Hong Kong had special advantages because they brought in huge foreign exchange in the country. And probably 99% immigrants were heading towards Toronto. Thus, province Ontario became the largest beneficiary of incoming money.
Their purpose was not yet over by getting the immigrants in with money but now it was important for them to squeeze that money out of their pockets and transfer them to white man's pocket. How did they do it so that it happened but victims never realized the pain? Well, the Christian World, particularly the British had developed that knack long-long ago. Only difference being, in 18th and 19th centuries they were cunning to the highest order and ruthless; today they have put on the mask of gentlemen and become lot more pacified, for they have come to terms with the realization that, after all, British Sun has Set! And those very Christian British came and settled [3] all over Canada, except for Quebec where French made their foothold. The British progeny is today's original white man of Canada.
So, how they squeezed new immigrants pockets? Food is eaten by all, be it immigrant or original settler white man; so, it is perhaps the cheapest item one essentially needs for living; and thus, primarily white men are not affected, secondarily the immigrants.
But then, same is not the case with shelter. You can live without food for a few days but without shelter you would freeze to death in one night. So, you got to shell out the money for it whatever be the cost. And, housing the most expensive of all costs there. On the top of they ensure that you rent a house which is more than you need. The spacious living room they simply do not count. The question begins when you start filling up the form. If you have two children of same sex then you must have a two-bedroom, hall, kitchen apartment. If you two children of opposite sex then you must have a three-bedroom, hall, kitchen apartment. Why three-bedroom? One for husband and wife, second for boy child, third for girl child. In their reckoning, your children cannot sleep with you, they cannot sleep in the spacious hall, so you need separate bedrooms for each. The age of the children they do not ask in the application form, so you can't argue that your children are small enough. After all they will grow and you got to provide for their separate rooms, as if the family would live in rented apartment for rest of their lives to see their children grow. And then, with thousand dollar two-bedroom apartment in the 1990s there would be many unwelcome guest like rats.
Those who have gone there would not complain to their people back home because they themselves would cut a sorry figure. They would go about bragging of things which would put them in higher esteem over those left out. One of thorough convent-bred had told me "the moment you land on Canadian soil you become government's responsibility with shelter, food, all taken care of!"
Next, what would happen to their educational institutions of which people of Indian sub-continent have very-very high opinion of? Those institutions got to close down! Because, Ontario had been in bad financial shape for years then. Why? Well, because of those very gentlemen white men! Look at Social Security which provided housing for those who do not have a house. And, majority occupants would be white. When few you locate of brown-skin almost invariably you would find them Christian by faith, or having converted to Christianity, and become adept at Christian value system, thought process, and living style including beef-eating. And of course, conversion comes rather easily to the convent educated. A true Hindu will be hard to spot living on government money.
And, there was one more reason for Ontario's crippling financial health. Government's generous Health Support System. White men and women would be visiting USA during Canadian winters on government expenditure under guise of treatment, duly prescribed by their government paid physicians. It was such a huge drain on Ontario government's fiscal budget. And, our English educated fools in high positions living here in India or abroad do not get tired of saying that India is one of the most corrupt country in the world. And they arrive at this conclusion from studies/surveys published from those very countries belonging to the Christian World. These are the people I call Parrot Humanoids.
Now, returning to the issue of educational institutions that needed to save themselves from closing down. They knew that the government could only go on subsidizing them from accumulated unemployment insurance deductions of salaried employees only to an extent. The government knew that. All businesses knew that. Education too is a business in the Christian World, it's not a noble task as used to be in the Hindu World before they Christianized our education using battalions of imported Christian missionaries.
My use of word Christian World is not attention catching jargon. The term has its own personality, meaning and distinct identity, which I have discussed elsewhere, in detail. The Christian World also has a unique empathy for their own people when it comes to survival of those belonging to that world. So, when one is in trouble, others come to rescue hiding themselves behind the scene, disregarding whether the troubles of the troubled one affects those giving a supporting hand or not, in the short run. For they are counting on the long-term advantages of extending a helping hand, but hiding themselves behind the screen so they themselves are not affected.
So, when the business of those educational institutions are at stake all others come to help. Government gives the initial support in two forms: (1) through accumulated funds from unemployment insurance, which is a short-term measure; (2) through bringing in hoards of immigrants as highly skilled cheap labor but with pockets full of money, and this happens to be government's long-term measure. Next helping hand comes from the employers requiring special skills but they wouldn't accept the skills acquired outside Canada until these highly skilled people acquire a Canadian qualification from a Canadian educational institution!
There is also a third aspect that gets taken care of by these maneuvers. That category of white men and women who are less competent and/or less ambitious and/or born or raised lazy, they find it easier to take social security and become guests of the government instead of becoming unskilled labors. So, the gap is filled-in by skilled immigrants taking up unskilled jobs. That is why I spoke of 'bringing in hoards of immigrants as highly skilled cheap labor but with pockets full of money'. True they come with pockets full of money but they know that's all they have and they need to save it for renting shelter.
Christian World loathed Indian caste system and made it look like shame on humanity and most educated Indians (parrot humanoids) got sold to that idea. Neither category of the fools realized its enormous significance in context of running a social system which makes each and every village self-supporting, ruling out any need for en-mass immigration.
Christian World, however, has been used to "eating it while having it too" for long. So, they wanted highly skilled people as immigrants and wanted to keep them subservient to themselves. And this is how they had it both ways. They got the imported life savings of immigrants, made them fund their ailing industries like housing, education, etc., and also made them work as cheap labor. In this context, I cannot resist myself from narrating you an experience that I wouldn't forget.
Year 1996
It's about an Indian family from either UP or MP (I can't remember precisely). The gentleman was a civil engineer in P. W. D. (Public Works Department) and he always had the benefit of government jeep. After coming to Canada first thing he did was to buy a car though he didn't have a job yet. I did not think of it as an wise idea as I already had a job, my first job was in a firm of Chartered Accounts, and I had my own car back in India, and I have been used to the comfort of an air-conditioned car now for fourteen years; and yet, I did not buy a car until I acquired a Canadian qualification and made an entry into white man's domain. I remember an interesting anecdote: a few years later, our CTO (Chief Technical Officer) narrated an episode in a light hearted manner to our colleagues at lunch (or may be, dinner) that "when I first interviewed Maanoj I had this uncomfortable feeling that I wasn't interviewing him, in stead, he was interviewing me".
Second thing that this P. W. D. engineer gentleman did was to start selling some kind of insurance policy. Once sitting with his family, during the talks, his wife said: "Bhaai Saaheb (brother), I am prepared to clean utensils at other peoples places if I can find a job". Now, this lady back home would have had the benefit of not one but of several servants (household help as the Christian World has now started calling them because they have realized how difficult it is to get one to do the household chores without a proper social system). And she, today, was willing to do the same job—back home it would have been unthinkable! In earlier days P. W. D. Engineer's job was all along considered a plush job (these days, may be or may be not).
Year 2000, 2001, 2010
Well, enough of deviation and let us now return to what I had begun with, and that is, "finally our visiting an Indian Restaurant for lunch and one unique piece of talk about Swami Nikhilananda".
Sunday, 11 Dec 2011, 03:10 AM
To make the things clear let me put the subject matter in chronological order. Sometime during June-July 2000 we communicated a lot through email. I was staying at my house in Nerul, New Bombay and used to visit a nearby cybercafé for checking mail and communicating with friends and acquaintances. Francis had computer at home. My conversation with Francis was predominantly on deep spiritual matters. We discussed The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna translated in English by Swami Nikhilananda very often and being better versed with the subject my contributions in those discussions were relatively dominant. Francis had a Buddhist monk background and therefore we both understood what we discussed. These stretches of communication were very fulfilling and satisfying to both. Mostly Francis would agree but on one particular matter he differed. The discussion went back and forth for some time and finally Francis withdrew.
A year and half later (Oct/Nov 2001) when we met in person and had lunch together relishing Indian cuisine Francis referred to that topic and made an interesting observation. He said, as the debate had progressed Swami Nikhilananda intervened and wrote to him that I was right. In other words, between our emails Swami entered the discussion and wrote to Francis that Maanoj was right. That had brought an end to that email debate but I had no clue as Swami had written directly to Francis. I was not surprised then because I thought Swami had intervened due to his siddhis सिद्धि (special powers acquired by a person through spiritual advancements). It may not be out of place to clarify that I and Francis were not communicating in a chat room environment where anyone can drop in and out, nor we were chatting on messenger type environment where both parties are present at two ends at the same time. We wrote our mails at different times that suited us individually, not at a specified time suitable to both. We were using simple email system.
In
those days I did not own a computer. I bought a computer in Feb 2002 but rarely surfed
the Internet because I had dial-up connection those days which turned out to be expensive,
besides blocking the telephone line rendering it unavailable for phone conversations. Only
after arrival of separate Broadband Cable connection I started using Internet more frequently. During
past two-three years I heavily depended on Internet for my research. It is during this period
that I found out that Swami Nikhilananda
had left his body way back in 1973.
That made me curious about the email that Swami had written to Francis Yip. I know for sure that it is not impossible. Accomplished souls can do miraculous thing even after they leave their body, for the 'soul' does not die. For this reason I communicated with Francis between 6 and 8 Dec 2010 enquiring if he could locate that particular email. After search he could not. I can appreciate that situation pretty well. In those day (year 2000) you could not save all your mail for future reference. I distinctly remember Yahoo/Hotmail offered very small storage quota and we needed to regularly delete our old mails to create space for new mail. Things began to change only after Gmail's entry with substantially higher email storage capacity and that too on ever growing basis. I used Yahoo those days and I don't have any of my mails from that time. Francis would have had similar situation besides he changed to rogers afterwards. Own PC hard disk storage used to be pretty expensive eleven years ago and no one would keep a backup of personal mail unless it is of great importance.
There is one more aspect that needs to be considered. As Swami Nikhilananda could intervene through mail uninvited 27 years after he left his body, so his email can also disappear physically after it had served its purpose. Many of you would think it's absurd but I do not because I have seen through my eyes a number of such things between 1998 and 2000. When you tend to measure things based on your logic, you often forget that your logic cannot go beyond the point your knowledge has reached. In other words, with your materialistic accomplishments your reasoning ability can only go as far as your materialistic knowledge has progressed.
Sunday, 11 Dec 2011, 07:54 PM - Many miraculous incidences have been documented by Paramahansa Yogananda in his Autobiography of a YOGI published and printed by Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, Yogoda Satsanga Math, 21, U.N. Mukherjee Road, Dakshineswar, Kolkata 700076 distributed by Jaico Publishing House and Motilal Banarsidass priced at Rs 125 pages 499
[1] Positive Talking NOT Positive thinking refer to Christianity Vol. 1
[2] I do not speak of current millennium because I do not know what's happening there. I have immersed myself in this work and left with no time to keep old contacts alive. During first decade of current millennium lot has changed, and changed drastically, within our country itself, and therefore, it is quite possible that things have changed there, in Canada, as well, but I do not know of what I cannot see and evaluate.
[3] Refer to Christianity Vol. 1 for "British and Dogs are NOT allowed sign-boards that prominently hanged outside every Native Canadian house" as the British lady (in CA office where I worked) told me.
Mississauga, Greater Toronto, between May and Aug 1997
Brief immersion into Bhakti'Yog' भक्तियोग
On my way back from work at Softkey's TaxPrep, I used to walk every evening on Explorer Drive from 2700 Matheson Boulevard East to Eglinton Avenue West. There would be hardly any traffic on Explorer Drive around that time of the day, so I could comfortably walk gazing at the sky, enjoying the beauty of mother nature, and in the process my heart and mind would be immersed in the thoughts of God. I would look at chunks of clouds floating in the sky, seemingly moving and taking different forms, eventually assuming the shape of one of the deities. The sight itself would be overwhelming. Every evening that walk would be a treat to my whole being. It used to be a brief immersion into Bhakti'Yog' भक्तियोग.
Bhakti'Yog' भक्तियोग refers to the path of Bhakti (devotion) which gradually paves the way for ultimate union with the Supreme Soul. This is how I have come to understand this term.
Aug-Sept 2002
Moksh' मोक्ष is all that I know of, or aspire for
Moksh is the only thing I know, and I understand. All else is secondary to me.
The next work on BhagavadGita will be built upon and around the premises of Moksh. It will attempt at explaining: How the soul begins its journey – where does it live – how does it use its freewill – what choices does it have – where does it end its journey!
That work will be the extract of knowledge and understanding acquired by ‘this soul’, through its journey over multiple births; its own, original, and authentic version.
The purpose would be to install a path indicator for those who are traveling, and may be looking for some indication as to which direction to go.
‘This soul’ wanted to experience this world, in its different colors and shades, before its final dissolution; and it wishes to leave the tracks for those who would be sinking or swimming through the ocean of this world, yet desirous of final freedom from it.
17 May 2011, 04:23 AM
It was written in those days when Moksh' was the only thing on my mind and I wanted nothing else.
While writing above passages I was not aware what Naaraayani Ma Bhav'Taarini had in store for me. In coming months (Oct 2002 to Feb 2003) new vistas opened up before me. Even then I was not aware that those were going to absorb me wholly and keep me occupied 24 hours 365 days years after year and I would not be looking for a break. After all it was me who had asked Naaraayani Ma Bhav'Taarini to give me work that would be in service to her. [related: Robot]
vista (a mental picture covering a wide range of objects or a long succession of events in the past or future)
Following notes were added on 17 Oct 2010
BhagavadGita Adhyaay 2
Shlok 45-46 Vedic scriptures are populated with all three attributes, fundamental to this creation, Satva, Rajas, and Tamas. You need to go beyond them ... devoid of attachments, free of conflicts, not desirous of material things and their accumulation. After knowing the Sarv-Brahm (the Creator), the Vedic essence becomes automatically known.
Shlok 47 You have control over doing your duty. You have no true control over its outcome. Do not preoccupy yourself with the outcome. Nor, be appealed by not performing your duty.
Shlok 48 Give up all kinds of attachments and do your work. Take success and failure in the same spirit. This Samatva is Yog.
Shlok 49-50 Desire-ridden work is not what you should be doing. While living in this world, wise men avoid both type of desire-ridden work, be it good or bad.
ShShlok 51 With this approach, wise men free themselves from the cycle of birth(s) and death(s) by giving up the desire for the returns from their work. Thus, they earn immortality by freeing themselves from the cycle of death(s).
You too can achieve Moksh' मोक्ष
This world is real. It is possible to remain within this world and yet to be out of it.
The environment of this world will keep influencing us. Yet, it is possible to continue our journey towards the Supreme Soul.
Attaining God does not wholly depend upon the clothes we wear; the vocation or life-style we adopt; it depends on the character of our desire for attaining Him!
Om
Asato Maa SadGamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyotir gamaya
Mrityor Maa Amrtam gamaya
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih!
Source: BrihadAranyak Upanishad First Adhyaay 3rd Brahmana 28th Mantr
O God! Please lead me from this transitory world to the permanent bliss. Please lead me from my spiritual ignorance to the spiritual knowledge. Please lead me from the cycle of repeated birth and death to the ultimate dissolution into the Supreme Soul, where after, there would be no more a birth, nor a death. Please lead me to the permanent peace!
Not wholly depend upon : It helps, but it does not conclusively determine that.
gamaya : letter ‘a’ in gamaya is pronounced as ‘u’ in But.
BhagavadGita Samatv'Yog 2:51 With this approach, wise men free themselves from the cycle of birth(s) and death(s) by giving up the desire for the returns from their work. Thus, they earn immortality by freeing themselves from the cycle of death(s). added 2010 10 17
State of bliss keeps you in a state of harmony, love and equality
10 Dec 2009 IST 17:122
Lot has not been said here – left to be told at some later date when the TIME arrives.
Time changes and so does the environment. Perspectives change. Call of Time gets redefined. Rising to the Occasion becomes the Touchstone of Time.
And that was to be reflected in my writings to come, where writings would be the vehicle to reach the people, and the Time for other Action would patiently wait for its turn.
It has been more than seven years when all this was written and Moksh was the only thing on my mind. I did not, but 'He' did know the path 'He' would be leading me towards, and in due course of time. 'He' also knew that my priorities would change drastically with time, so much so that I would hardly bother to remember what all I had once passed through, leave aside remembering minute details thereof (ex: addresses, dates, names, sequence of events, state of mind, etc).
Not only this, 'He' also knew that I had no inclination whatsoever to document those experiences to start with.
But 'He' must have seen some purpose behind making me do so.
'He' had 'His' own way of planting the seed in my mind. 'He' used Prof. D. Meo as the vehicle and made her ask me of my spiritual journey, and then let it germinate while 'He' made me wait at Milan Airport.
So, finally, I did place the events on record but did not publish them for public consumption. It is only now that I understand 'His' purpose, and therefore, I am publishing it.
Many of you may be familiar with my prior works which actually came into existence after this work, but got published much before this one. Now that you have read this one, you may have figured out how much I have changed over time.
But do you have any idea how difficult was that process of change? From a state of bliss to this state of filth is not easy to come by. I was torn within. This change was unacceptable to me and I did make several attempts to avoid that, but then it kept drawing me like a powerful magnet rendering me powerless. That tug of war has been tearing me apart.
It hadn’t been a brief surgical operation. It had been a thorough dissection bit by bit, limb by limb. And this was all happening inside my mind and heart. The process was long drawn over the years. Indeed, it had been very painful.
When you are in a state of bliss the entire world looks to you as one. Everything feels like part of that one, the Creator. You are in love with everything around you. All are one to you. You cannot feel good towards one and bad towards another. You see the beauty in ugliness and love in hatred. You cannot feel hatred towards any and cannot perceive inequality in any form. To you all are equal – even different religions. I would have probably become a preacher if I had been allowed by 'Him' to stay in that state for long enough.
But then 'He' wanted me to experience that this happened to be only one part of the Truth, and yet there was another form of reality. And my knowing that form of reality was probably more important to 'Him' given the environment that we have today. And I had surrendered myself totally to 'Him' so 'He' had every right to lead me wherever 'He' wanted to. While I was more than willing in principle I had no idea what 'He' had in store for me.
I was in bliss and I wanted to remain in bliss, and from there merge into 'Him' losing my existence all together so that I do not have to return for another merry go round.
I had no inclination whatsoever to document those experiences : 2009-12-10 For a normal person it would be very difficult to understand why I would not want to make them public.
To understand that one has to first transport him (self) to that state of mind and heart in which I was then. And you know it well that it would not be possible for you to do so, on the fly.
Therefore, I have to resort to logical explanation to make you understand that.
In that state of mind where I sought nothing but dissolution within 'Him', that is, in effect, lose my existence and become one with 'Him'; in that scenario how could I be left with any desire to place on record what all were my experiences.
Think of it this way: when this mortal world itself had become redundant for me why would I want to leave any footprints behind?
This entire thing is a deep subject. I have gone into depth describing it in various ways in my other work "Vidhata"
But 'He' must have seen some purpose behind making me do so : 2009-12-10 Which I did not understand then but I do now
'He' used Prof. D. Meo as the vehicle : 2009-12-10 'He' only made Prof. D. Meo find me. For I knew her not; nor there was any common friend who could have introduced both of us; 'His' ways are unique, so are 'His' scheme of designs.
All are equal – even different religions : 2009-12-11 IST 0557 Those who quote Shri RaamKrishn ParamHans Dev or Sri Ramana Maharshi fail to realize that such statement (if they made) was the result of a specific state of mind and heart, and it would be applicable only to those who live in that state of mind and heart.
It would be foolish to apply this to people who do not even know (cannot even fathom) what kind of state of mind and heart that could be.
Therefore, something stated (if it was) wasn’t meant for quoting out of context and thereby misguiding the rest of the world which today’s god men are doing for they themselves have not been to that state.
Most of these god men possess second-hand knowledge acquired from books and other people of prominence. The concept of "Parrot Humanoids" (as I call it) applies to them and to their followers very well.
Preacher : Today many of them become preacher by reading books and scriptures
Given the environment that we have today : 2009-12-10 IST 23:25 We humans are responsible for bringing it to this stage (refer to chapter 'Vidhata' of book titled as "Vidhata" to understand the concept)
To return for another merry go round : Refer to Vidhata – analogy of the amusement park
Robot
Earlier, I had appealed to Him repeatedly that He takes the rein of my life into His hands. I had appealed to Him, over and again, for the privilege of my being of service to Him, instead of me working for my own needs, and these prayers seem to have been heard now.
One night as I was listening to the last chapter 18 of BhagavadGita. At Shlok 61 suddenly
I knew the answer, the work that lay ahead of me.
"O Arjun! This body is like a machine. Mounted on this machine, God with the aid of His
Maya makes it move around in accordance with the individual’s
Karm'. He knows what is in the heart of each creature. He is resident in the heart of
all the creatures."
At that moment, the analogy surfaced on my mind, how God creates man and monitors him, and how man creates robot and monitors it. I visualized myself as the machine and God as the operator.
Man creates robot, gives it partial intelligence to operate on its own in a limited way, retain its control in his hands, and operates it through the remote control system.
God creates man, gives him substantial amount of intelligence and together with that the freewill, so he could operate on his own; nevertheless, He retains the control in His hands, knows what the man does, and gives him his rewards according to his Karm (deeds). The reward monitoring system operates on its own but not without His knowledge, nor without His access to the remote control system (note 1)
It became clear to me that I am His instrument, and gradually now He has made me ready for the task He had for me. This is when I knew the task as well, for the first time. (note 2)
Then, one morning as I woke up, I found my desires extinguished, emptiness filled with a mission. I returned to India to start the work.
Him : When I write this, in my mind there is no difference between Him and Her, I use them quite interchangeably, as God in any aspect is only God to me, my address to Him/Her is immaterial
Maya : Refer to Vidhata (Jurisdiction of Maya: here we live)
Karm' : Refer to Vidhata (Bondage of Karm' – here we use our free will)
(note 1) : Refer to Epilogue – Mechanisms of Cosmic Management (2002) 2009-12-11 IST 0429 At that time I had planned to complete the chapter on Mechanisms of Cosmic Management as Epilogue to this work; for reasons no more I remember now it wasn’t done; and, after passage of so many years I have lost that knowledge the vision of which I had acquired one evening during meditation at 402–725 Don Mills Road, North York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3C 1S6; for, now I am a changed man; so much water has flown...and washed away all that...why that happened, see Epilogue, and you will understand...so much was documented but this one was left over...for TIME hadn’t yet come in the scheme of His designs for that part to be documented
(note 2) 2009-12-11 IST 0502 It had come as a flash and had disappeared almost immediately. The impression had remained fresh in my memory for quite some time but now with passage of time and with very substantial change in my person that impression too has become vague.
Then, one morning : It was Saturday 10 Nov. 2001 at 25 Mabelle Avenue, Etobicoke, ON
Robot (2001)
2001 Nov 10, Saturday 10 PM, 25 Mabelle Ave., Toronto
Man makes robot, in his own image and makes it move around.
There is something inside the robot on which man has its control and, in that manner, man's existence is reflected in the robot.
God creates man, in his own image and makes him move about. There is something inside the man on whom God has control and in that manner, God's presence is in the man.
Man gives robot some intelligence and robot functions partially with its own choice.
God gives man some intelligence, man calls it free will and, functions partially of his own choice, thereby generating own Karm.
Striking analogy is seen in verse 61 chapter 18 of BhagavadGita. Shri Krishn says to Arjun:
Lord resides in the hearts of all beings ... through His Maya, makes their body-like machine move about according to their Karm (past deeds)
What I haven't told you yet, will come to you when the TIME comes
2010, Discovery
What I have said here, I have said.
What I have not said, I have not said.
Please do not ask me about those.
When the TIME comes I shall reveal them without your asking me.
In some earlier edition of Gita Today I had made mention of this work My Journey to Him and
also said that TIME hasn’t come yet to publish it.
Now it’s here with you.
Similarly, other things will get revealed in TIME.
Generosity without evaluating possible consequences can be deadly
2010, last notes before releasing the manuscript to printer, Discovery
Generosity is good but being generous without evaluating possible consequences could be deadly.
In त्रेता Treta, दशरथ Dash’Rath gave three boons not knowing what would be asked in return when time comes to pay back. You all know what happened.
In द्वापर Dwaapar, देवव्रत Dev’Vrat made his legendary भीष्म प्रतिज्ञा Bheeshm Pratigya without evaluating what could be the outcome. You all know what all he had to endure in due course of time.
TIME takes account from us for every deed that we did.
TIME forgives none, forgets nothing.
Similarly, a जन्म-जन्मान्तर Janm-Janmaantar's वैरागी Vairaagi in his last leg of journey to Him, inadvertently gave his word to someone without taking into account what could be the outcome. This changed the course of his journey.
That one act of misjudged generosity necessitated one more birth to battle out the ordeals of worldly pleasures and pains, the course of which hasn’t ended yet.
One last sacrifice remains for this Yagya यज्ञ.
inadvertently not focusing the mind on the matter