Look at the vastness of the sky. Open your eyes; see the clear sky. It starts entering you immediately. You might have felt this many times during childhood. To children it mesmerizes. It can happen to you too. Try.
The universe is vast and it is naked right there in front of us. You see it as it is. One who can watch with clear eyes that which is, is called avlokitta — another name of Buddha the awakened. That which is, is staring at us. You can enter it right now. Where is the worry?
Worry is embedded in your thoughts. Thoughts fly you to dream world. You dream of possessions. Your
dreamt possessions make you poorer. Poverty begins. Poverty has nothing to do with physical poverty if you are not able to make efforts to earn as much as your body requires. But that is also psychological because no animal earns. But make effort. You never come across an animal whose life runs on your economy. But you think your life is run on economy. Economy was bred from barter. Barter was bred when we made abundant booty and exchanged with another for need, effort, charm, habits.
Today economy has become a source of our poverty. We keep on thinking economy is going down. How would our government cope with it? Economic situation has gone down because of a pandemic. Can economy survive? These questions we keep on asking each other and blame the pandemic, governments, etc. Becoming poorer is our biggest worry. Yet we keep on becoming poorer ourselves through dreaming.
Humans think economy is some sort of a system that brings prosperity. That prosperity gives humans
power to dream more. That undreamt possessions could be possessed by prosperity without which humans become poorer. This is a big dilemma and a vicious cycle. This takes man far from life.
Those who knew say that it is not what you saw in dreams is true or what you saw in reality is true. Truth is what you saw with open eyes yourself, and not what others saw and you believed in it or you dreamt. Socrates said knowledge is a virtue. But being knowledgeable by borrowed knowledge is a
sin. The borrowed knowledge from scriptures that pastors, maulvis, pandits, granthis, rabbis keep on telling does not make one enlightened. Like Nanak who attained Godhood and sang the song of that which is. But those who read knowledge became knowledgeable but not enlightened. The incarnation
of Nanak from man to Godhood happened by knowing the truth that which is as it is.
The teaching that Nanak gave is that he asked us to sing our own song like Nanak sang his own song — the song of his being. It is true to all religions — Hindus, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism,
Jainism, etc.
Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira, Nanak attained to Godhood. Buddhists, Jains, Hindus and Muslims are all
followers. If followers would have known the Godhood, they would have attained Godhood themselves. But by not doing so they believe that they were ordained to the order of the God. God is not an order. But for those who believe they believe in Godhood in the orderliness of the God. Those who know they know it and their knowledge becomes a virtue.
We keep on asking intellectual questions. We don’t ask our fundamental questions of being that would
bring transformation. To be knowledgeable one has to go beyond knowledge. Life is like living in flames. We are set to be ablaze. What we call our house is our funeral pyre.To go out of flames you need eyes and you have been blinded by borrowed knowledge. Life is ours. We need eyes of our own that is what enlightenment means. We need the eyes of knowledge. You are into darkness and memorizing light of the enlightened ones that is written in scriptures will not make you light unto yourself.
Borrowed knowledge creates an illusion. Illusion of knowledge. You are filled with false knowledge. Knowledge that does not take you from darkness to light, from ignorance to wakefulness is not knowledge. Asatomasadgamaya, tamasomajyotirgamaya, mtyorma’mtagamaya — we can keep repeating
these words without following the real meaning these words mean.
Knowledge that does not make us virtuous is borrowed knowledge, in fact ignorance. Instead of believing about knowledge of others, knowing our own ignorance is the beginning towards the truth or gyana. By following or memorizing the borrowed knowledge an illusion gets created that we know God.
This type of borrowed theism is the biggest burden and hindrance in knowing that which is or attaining
to Godhood. Whole life revolves around an illusion of God that covers ignorance in the garb of knowledge.
Theists have bled the world, not atheists. One who had eyes, he saw as it is that which is. Religions,
teachings, rituals we keep on repeating. We say we practise our religions. Gyan cannot be transferred or one cannot become gyani by repeating words by memory. You could memorise Veda, Purana, Gita, scriptures, but that does not enlighten you. Gyan is like eyes of light. What you have memorized is
not your light. Will not help you become enlightened. Does it enlighten you or will it make you enlightened or will it make you light.
Scriptures are there to tell you that you have to become a light unto yourself. They are asking you to sail in the unknown waters and to go into their depth in your own light or go in the search of light. Scriptures are indicating towards the truth. Vedas, Quran, Gita, Dhammapada all are born out of those who saw that which is. They point towards the truth that which is — they are directions to us to go. We start memorizing the directions without going anywhere and call it knowledge and wisdom. Sail your
boats. Sail your boat into the unknown water and dive deep into it. Believe in the Truth. Make it ultimate motto of your life.
When we die, we go to an unknown place. The time that we have between now and death we should use it for awakening. That’s the life. We have harboured our boats on the beach of beliefs. Boats are meant for sailing.
The author is a spiritual coach and an independent advisor on policy, governance and leadership. He could be reached at arunavlokitta@gmail.com.