Your will works great when it is "your" will

The following is an excerpt from "Conversation with God, Book 1" ... and answers the question "What are we clutched to?" We start with a key question that most of us are asking ...

When will life take off for me?

What you choose you get ... this is the way things work
My promise is to always give you what you ask and you promise to ask (this is the holy covenant)
In assuming a new body and mind, you have forgotten who you are ... You are his equal ... [this forgetting is part of maya/Illusion] …
[You are CLUTCHED to a limited reality]
You have forgotten, so you can create anew in this life ... and this is how God also creates anew too .. through you! That way each time it is different, interesting
You will do your best work if you see yourself as an all-powerful creator
My promise is to always give you what you ask and you promise to ask (this is the holy covenant) … this is a holy collaboration/communion … the implications are enormous

Life will ‘take off’ when you choose for it to take off

You have not-chosen, denied, procrastinated, protested, prolonged, protracted
You must remember who you are, believe and live the promise of God
You are his equal
But, this is too much to accept, too much responsibility
This puts the responsibility back on you … if you are his equal, then nothing is done to you and all things are created by you … no victims, no villains
Who you are and what you have are outcomes of your thoughts/ideas about who you are

Do you want your life to truly take off?

Then, change the very idea of who you are
[UNCLUTCH from what your idea is currently]
Think, speak and act as the God you are
This will separate you from many … they will call you crazy
You may be dismissed, vilified and condemned
Because your pursuit of the realization of the Self and gets in their way, messes up their plans

Why then do it?

Because you are no longer happy/satisfied/pleased with what the acceptance and approval of the world has brought you … this conformance, this limiting of oneself … no longer concerned
You want the pain, suffering to stop and the Illusion to end
You have had enough of the world as it presently is … you seek a new world
Now, seek it no longer … call it forth … assume it is there and express gratitude
[This is like the karate practitioner who is trained to keep his attention below the bricks (the place where the hand is after going through the bricks) … he focuses on the reality of his hands that have passed through the bricks]

Can you help me better understand how to do this?

Go first to the highest thought about yourself
Imagine how life would be if you lived that thought every day
Imagine what you would think, do and say … and how you would respond to what others do and say
Do you see a big difference between this projection and what you think, do and say now?
You should … since we know that you are not right now living your highest vision of yourself
Look closely at the difference between where you are and where you want to be
Begin to change … you thoughts, words and actions … to match your vision
Massive move to consciousness … you have been unaware, unconscious of the effects of your thought, word and deed
Your soul has called you to this conscious living from the beginning of time. [To live in your own consciousness, your own rules is Dharma/duty. Right now, your concept of duty is socially imposed … a hodge-podge of everyone else’s concept of duty … everyone’s, except your own]

Isn’t this exhausting? Boring? Makes you dull?

Unconditional love, conscious living is never dull … people flocked to see the Buddha
Check all your thoughts, words and deeds … make sure they are in alignment with your highest vision of yourself
If you slip, make a sincere promise that this is the last time … and make it right with whoever you slipped with

Why is this not true for most of us? What about people who are in difficult situations, fail, suffer?

We are not talking about denying any situation, but changing how you think about them
Do you think about them as a victim and not able to change anything? E.g. “this is horrible, unfair, I am a bad person” etc.
Or do you think that they have changed already, now that you are on a different plan? (different though-word-deed pattern that will undoubtedly produce a different situation)
Stop wasting energy on value judgments of others or yourself
Which way things change is dependent on you … your thought-word-deed pattern in the Now
[Focus on this Now/present moment … where everything is born and every moment will become true creativity]
Development of body and mind is meaningless to the soul … don’t waste time/energy on these
There is nothing to develop … you are God’s equal … you just need to remember
There is only the aspect of aligning with your soul’s calling/it’s highest vision of how to behave and interact with the world
It is uniquely yours

Stop judging your own soul and accept its vision

You have been taught that to deny yourself, deny your soul in the name of ‘duty’ is goodness
[This is how your family, friends and society keep you in line, in check … to serve its limited purpose]
Learn what is the soul’s desire and go with it
The soul’s desire is some highest experience of love (different manifestations of it as there are souls)
This is the soul’s purpose
Not just the knowledge/concept of the love, but the feeling and experience of perfect love … which is the feeling of unity with all that is … with “God”
The purpose is to experience of all of it … so it can be all of it … with acceptance/love
How can it be “right” … if it has never been “wrong?” So, wrong is not bad, just repeating is! Fully experience it and don’t repeat what “you” feel is wrong. [Your feeling is important here … not others’. Because right/wrong depends on who you are, your circumstance, hence a very relative concept. Don’t cow down to others’ concept of what is right/wrong … only your soul knows/only you know]
Accept everything in yourself and others [as this necessary, colorful play of right/wrong, good/bad, high/low, etc.]… but seek to make changes within yourself in alignment with your soul
So stop judging others and yourself … just change your actions as you choose/no one is going to prevent you and no one should … this is your highest purpose
[But, watch carefully to make sure that you are indeed aligned with your soul at every moment … only you can decide]

This transcript is about 2/3 of an excerpt I made … is in .mp3 format so we can listen to it every day … E-mail me if you want me to send it to you ... and buy the book to express gratitude to the author.

Hear the whole book at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHsrhBQb36E

So what are we clutched to?
The short answer is that we are clutched to a limited notion of ourselves!

Free-will ... What to Do!

There are two assertions on free-will that come to mind.

1. One is that we are body-mind organisms that are programmed to respond in specific ways to specific situations. The situations are different enough that we think our responses are different each time/we are responding with some choice. But, they are also similar enough that we can see that our responses are the same. What does person X choose to do when he has an evening of free tme? How does a person X react when person Y says or does Z? Even when we recognize that we respond in predictable ways, we justify it saying "that is who I am." There is an attachment, a need to defend this person ... that everything else is built on. This person is the last to be challenged because we cannot afford to. Our state of mind is dependent on keeping this person secure. If we feel that this person is a programmed person, nothing special ... this shakes the very foundation of how we feel secure now. Accepting that we are programmed beings is one key step, which is in itself is dependent on our programming and its interaction with situations. Programming + situations = new situation.

Here, there is nothing to do because, by definition, you are dependent on your programming and the situations (both of which you can't control) to create your reality.

(Is there a meta-level from which you can change your programming; how does one get in to the meta-level? Isn't getting in to the meta-level itself dependent on your programming and situations. If you get in to the meta-level by accident, what replaces your programming in choice-making? Masters say this is the spirit which is 100% in tune with the environment ... still there is no choice from your personal perspective.)

2. Another assertion is that even if we are not programmed (and our actions are new and creative and full of choice), the results have never been under my control. Experienced business leaders say that they are right 60% of the time ... or what they choose to do is successful 60% of the time. Just slightly better that 50-50 ... and that too in the biased opinion of the choosers themselves. So, what is the use of choice and free will? Is it better to focus, not on choice and decisions but on getting on with the action as best as you can ... and enjoy it as you go along without the pressure of choosing and decision making. This is the assertion of Hinduism (Vedanta), Zen, Taoism, Sufism ... much of Easter thought ... they focus on action rather than choice. They have been interpreted as license for not acting ... it is actually a license for not being too worried about choosing. Any choice is OK ... acting well is far more important. Free will is not important if it is the free will to choose. If it is free will to act, it is supremely important.

Once again, nothing to do.

While we are not the doer, the language of doing is all we have. In this language: Act as if you have free will to choose, but let this be a thin thread ... be open to allow the choice to change (choicelessness). While you are in action, be totally in action (immersion). Spend more time in action than choosing. Nail down both choicelessness and immersion in action by accepting that results are way beyond your control. You are but one drop of water in the mighty ocean. Your path depends more on the ocean that any choice/action of yours. Relax ... and ... Unclutch.

Freeing yourself from the mind

Mind tries to make sense of the seeing/experiencing. That is the process of clutching.

'Trying to see something' comes from the mind. There is a seeing that comes from emptiness. With it, all the other objects are also empty. Intellectual faculties are still working. But they are included in a greater seeing that is empty as a source. The 'relative' is included in the 'absolute.'

When you start feeling the absolute in the subtlest way, with no processing ... the mind is going to say "let me tell you the answer to 'Who is seeing' ... it wants to put things in place, makes sense of it ... to use it ... and it has already started clutching. You have to reject this ... you have exist in the seeing.

Questions and answers will cease by themselves ... you are home ... and at home, there are no questions because you are not lost.

Unclutched is Inspired ... Often Humorous

When you are unclutched, you are inspired ... and often humorous!

Here is an example:

" Ambi Mama is leading Brahmin relative" - Survey

A survey has revealed that ‘Ambi Mama' is the leading relative among Tamil Brahmin families worldwide, with six in ten families having one of their own (a 60% repsesentation. Apparently, Ambi Mama held off stiff competition from Mani Mama (with 55% representation) and Baby Chitti (39%) for a well-deserved win. “It's a great day for all Ambi Mamas. All the years of hard work – drinking coffee, criticizing the Indian team selection and complaining about blood-pressure – have finally paid off. Yay!”, said Ambi Mama, a spokesman for the Ambi Mamas Association of Dear Old Rascals (AMBASSADOR), a division of the Hardcore Brahmin Organisation (HBO). [Editor's note – The previous sentence has been roundly condemned by the Society for Prevention of Abbreviations that are Needless, Dumb and Execrable (SPANDEX)]

Mani Mamas all over the world watched in anguish as the final results were announced, plunging them into gloom. “It's no fun being a Mani Mama anymore”, said Mani Mama. “ Maybe if I change my name to ‘Ramesh Anna', I will have a brighter future”, he pondered pointlessly.

Follow the above link for more ...
http://www.bosey.co.in/2005/05/ambi-mama-is-leading-brahmin-relative.html

(Comments are hilarious too)

Thanks to my Bala Gopalan who forwarded this to me.

One way to unclutch

Ramana Maharishi is known for saying, "Ask who is having this thought?" or "Ask who is the one who is angry?" With this, his goal is to separate the two states in which we exist :
1) self/ego state in which we see ourselves only in relation to this life (our current roles, capabilities, status, etc.)
2) Self (capital 'S')/spirit state in which the self/ego diminishes and we adopt the perspective of the spirit inside each one of us (pure consciousness/ awareness)

The question "Who is having this thought?" is not to be answered literally. It is a rhetorical question. If you answer it verbally, you will answer it from the reference point of the self/ego. When you don't answer it and exist in the question, the feeling, the thoughtless reflection ... then the Self is invoked. This is similar to Jiddu Krishnamurti's "listen, but not to the words ... because when you get to the level of the words, you have lost the listening ... listen to the feeling behind the words ... the whole statement, without thought ... then you will see an energy arise within you and a level of understanding which is beyond words"

By asking this question, we unclutch from the self/ego and go deep within to the Self/spirit.

I have tried this and it seems to work well. Many times during the day, I would say "Who is thinking?," "Who is driving?," "Who is upset?" and it seems to take me in to different space ... the thinking stops, the driving stops (the stressful part ;-), and the upset stops. Because the Who, the Self does not care about any of these things. It is infinite, limitless, does not have anywhere to go, does not have anything to do! It just is and has no use for thoughts and upsets.

We could all try asking this question and remain silent ... and see if we can invoke a different Us ... an Unclutched Us.

Child Abuse - a natural for the clutched mind

The clutched mind works from the mind/head. What is the mind/head? Simply put, it is our goals, fantasies and fears. A random occurrence of them. We connect a lot of these and create a desired identity for our children. This is an identity that they can't possibly live up to, for the simple reason that even we adults can not/do not live up to them.

We insist that our child not get angry and if she does get angry, we promptly get angry in return. The child has to make sense of this ... and she decides "it is OK to get angry if the other person is angry," "it is OK to get angry if you have a reason for it (and who doesn't?)," or worse yet "it is OK to get angry if you are bigger and impose on the other person."

We insist that our child be patient and promptly lose patience if they are impatient. The child decides ....

We insist that our child share their things with other children and turn them down every time they ask us to share our time with them. The child decides ....

We insist that our child focus on tasks like studying/working and not watch TV, and then spend hours in front of the TV. The child decides ....

No wonder the child doesn't learn. Because you have nothing to teach. You end up contradicting your words almost immediately with your actions. The mind/head is not just mad, it is madness itself. It is built to abuse the other (and oneself).

The problem with the mind is that there is no spirit, no flow. It is hatched out of some canned rules ... a canned identity ... a fantasy ... somewhere in the past and the future. It is always in conflict and always under construction. It wants something that is not and clearly cannot practice it now (in the present).

The unclutched spirit, on the other hand, works from the heart. It has no goals, fantasies and fears and does not create identities. It relaxes and allows the being to flow ... to attend to things in their own order and timing. It believes in the intelligence that flows through every living being ... indeed all of creation. It is never in conflict. It relishes what is available now.

If a child gets angry, the unclutched remain calm. The child decides that it is possible to be calm even when others are angry.

If a child is impatient, it has the awareness/flow/energy to turn on unbelievable patience. The child decides ....

If the child doesn't share, it gets down to the business of sharing something with everyone, not punishing through exclusion (this is frequently expressed as "if you won't share, we won't share with you"). The child experiences sharing and decides that this is a better way.

If the child watches too much TV, it gets down the business of focusing itself and creating some real alternatives that are appealing to the child. The child decides that it is possible to focus and create better alternatives.

The unclutched do not despair that the child does not have x, y, and z but instead see what they do have in the present moment (a situation/a need) and leverage it to demonstrate the desirable x, y, and z.

The unclutched do not abuse their children or themselves. They do not practice madness of the mind/head ... they practice sanity of the spirit/heart.

Unclutch? ... Why?

"Go to a party. Listen to the laughter, that brittle-tongued voice that says fun on the surface and fear underneath. Feel the tension, feel the pressure. Nobody really relaxes. They are faking it. Go to a ball game. Watch the fans in the stands. Watch the irrational fit of anger. Watch the uncontrolled frustration bubbling forth that masquerades under the guise of enthusiasm or team spirit. Booing, catcalls and unbridled egotism in the name of team loyalty. Drunkenness, fights in the stands. These are people trying desperately to release tension from within. These are not people who are at peace with themselves. Watch the news on TV. Listen to the lyrics in popular songs. You find the same theme repeated over and over in variations. Jealousy, suffering, discontent, and stress. Life seems to be a perpetual struggle, some enormous effort against staggering odds."

- from Mindfulness in Plain English, Bante Henepola Gunaratana

The above description may be a bit harsh, but there is no denying that this is the main undercurrent in our lives ... craving, restlessness, dissatisfaction, fear & tension. Many masters in many traditions have insisted that there is no peace because we are clutched to an "unimportant" and "highly detrimental" reality. Clutched to ourselves. Our concerns. Born not to be free, but to struggle. What we are taught by our well-meaning parents and in schools/colleges as the right way actually stands in the way.

Welcome to "Unclutched - The Only Way to Live" - a place where I hope to collect my personal experience on how we wreak havoc on ourselves and others around us ... and how we may stop doing that for a more joyous life.


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