‘What is life’? Intellectually man is intrigued with this question. But, in fact, it is also the central question of life. Question is, in fact, intellectual but if one hopes to find an intellectual answer, it is not the answer at all. This is question cannot be asked from someone else except you. If you ask this question from the deep core of your heart you will come closer to the truth. But till the time there is a question it would only be answered by the mind.
When you are being in the being-ness of your being, the question drops and that is the time when intellect drops. Mind drops. And the real answer descends. The answer doesn’t come from outside. The answer simply emerges from the source which is always there. One can live the question deeply with oneself and one never knows when the question becomes the answer by simply being in the being-ness of being.
Life is not a thought. Life is not a long thought or a series of thoughts. Thoughts are mind. Huge crowds of thoughts throng the mind. You are a crowd of thoughts. What you think life is in fact a chain of thoughts. A chain of thoughts that forms your mind and the mind that intellectually wants to know ‘what is life’. So that a chain of thoughts is complete when all answers that could be intellectually answered are answered.
But life is not the chain of thoughts. You get a new and unique moment every moment. You are given this moment for this moment. You are given this moment for being in the moment. Beyond this moment you have no life. But you wish to treasure this moment for future use. Because you thought life is a thought because you thought life as a thing in your hands. A thought that tomorrow you will live like life that you feel you will actually live that which you created. Howsoever, you may treasure your thoughts that will never represent you or your life.
You are your life. You are not someone else who is living your life. You think that you are living because you think you are living therefore you are living. But the fact is that you are, therefore, you think. Not that you think therefore you are.
When one thinks that one needs to lead a life or one needs to live life is because you think therefore you live. But you are, therefore, you think. Therefore you live because you are. Not that you have to use your life to live or not that you have to live your life. But you have to be the life because you are the life.
When you be in the now-ness of your being, the elixir of life springs out of your source. In that elixir of joy, you meet you. You meet life. Life meets life.
You meet tenderness of life. You meet that what is the tenderest in the world. You meet that what is the most compassionate thing inside you which is like water gushing down the river, like warmth going upstream. Like compassion flowing all over. You come closer to life. When the distance between the questioner and question drops answer emerges. And you meet life in its tenderness.
Life is not a thought. Thoughts have invented the future. Thoughts have invented hopes and desires. Thoughts invented the world. Every thought has a world. Thoughts give birth to worlds. Thoughts have invented fear when desires are not met. Then thoughts thought to instantly fulfil desires by wealth and power. So thoughts invented God. Thoughts invented godlessness too. And thoughts have invented virtues to lead you to God. And thoughts have invented fears to make you fearful of God. So humanity becomes fearful of thoughts. Humanity follows the principle of fear.
We make children fearful. A child is in fact a religion. A child is Godliness embodied. One doesn’t have to invent God if you know a child. A child is being in the Godliness of being. He is in the cradle of Godliness. But we make him fearful to follow a well-established organised religion to ensure that he is part of the same organisation of religion that you were born into. Fear is the invention of civilisations on which civilisations thrive.
But man is endowed with eyes. Eyes are the sense of light. Eyes are capable to see that which is the light. In fact, life is light, the light that reflects the world on you. Light lives in perfect newness, the light that reflects the truth of life. But man uses eyes differently. Man is enamoured with the optics. That which you call life is your hypothesis of life. You are beheld by the optics that you have made part of your hypothesis of life.
Life is not your hypothesis. Life is here and kicking. A hypothesis doesn’t quench your thirst. Life does. Life is not fear. Life is also not your hypothesis of fear. You are a glimmering example of your life. Life is light that has lit you. Life has come into you therefore you are lit. You are able to see optics because light lit you. All your senses that report to your mind are senses which are evolved by light. You are the light that you are born with. When light departs body disembodies. Buddha says ‘appo deepo bhavo’, be a light unto yourself. Attain to the light that you are.
Being enamoured with what your eyes show you are being entangled with the world of thoughts. Don’t be part of the scene. You are not part of the optic that you see outside of you. All optics that you see create the world outside you.
Understand whatever that is observed by you is not you? In that light that you observe is you. Observer observes the observed and observation is created. So whenever there is an object and distance between the observer and the observed is the observation. Observation is of the mind. Observation is intellectual. Observation is looking from outside. Krishnamurthy calls this phenomenon, ‘the observer is the observed’. When the observer observes the observed and the question drops and the answer also drops. The observer drops and that which is observed is also dropped. The observer becomes observed and the observed becomes the observer. Distance between them drops because in fact there was no distance. The observer and what is being observed are one. Existence is one. Existence remains. Hindus call it ‘Samadhi’ which means the ultimate resolve.
The author is a spiritual teacher and he can be contacted at arunavalokitta@gmail.com