Ageing
When you're seventeen you know everything. When you're twenty-seven, if you still know everything you're still seventeen.
Unfortunately, most of us don't begin to think until the ripe age of thirty - when things are a little more quiet. The problem is, at this age it is too late to begin doubting one's basic assumptions in life. Pride is a factor - it is too distressing to admit failure and have to start all over again.
As we age we nearly always undergo a hardening of the attitudes, or a hardening of the heart - not unlike hardening of the arteries. All our efforts become directed towards extinguishing the idea that something new may be possible. Up until now we have had some ideals, some faith in reason, but age beats all the hope out of us. Now we need security, and security requires certainty. If our categories are not concrete and beyond doubt we will surely be crucified by them. Therefore, once we reach thirty we know everything - even if it is the cowardly certainty that we can never know absolute truth!
From this time on we are the slaves of abstraction and unable to ask the noble questions of youth.
For young children it is primarily experience that determines character. For the adult it is character that determines experience. That is, the ego is initially built on experience, and later builds experience. Thus the elderly fear change because they have something to lose; while the young are still building, and have everything to gain. Children are therefore curious and open; they are not afraid to ask questions precisely because they do not fear ignorance.
But children become adults, and soon the feelers of abstract thought grow and reach out, bringing a new knowledge, a great knowledge, and great fears also. Soon, everything becomes fearful, and they too will be heard barking, even when the wind rustles through the grasses.
What is it to be a child? A child is one who sees adults as mad. Thus, when you find the people of this world acceptable, you have grown up. It is better to have more of the adolescent in you than the "mature". Strictly speaking, maturity indicates the end of growth, both physically and mentally. If you're green you're growing; if you're ripe, your rotting.
Zeal
As a young child I used to beat-up my parents till they told me the truth; such was my passion for the absolute. By the grace of God that zeal is still with me! These days I beat-up God till he gives me what I want.
Too late for spiritual life?
Age: I'm fifty-four years old I'll have you know! Its too late for me to be embarking on a brand new way of life.
Youth: Perhaps you are right. There's no denying you have become set in your ways. But it's not too late to consider your "future lives". So, you may have made the mistake of ceasing to grow, but you can still use the time you have left to tell others of your mistake, and help prevent them from making the same blunder.
Entertainment
Entertainment: a way of avoiding boredom.
Boredom: when you don't want to think about life and can't find entertainment.
Loneliness: what people who are attached to the company of others call boredom.
Depression: when you are forced to think about life, and don't like what you see.
Work
A job is not merely a tranquillizing drug forced upon the ego, but is a dangerously addictive and destructive poison.
Work destroys the mind more effectively than anything else, which is precisely why it is enforced. After all, we are all equal, and therefore nobody must be permitted to have a mind. Work saps you of your thought by a process of taking your mind prisoner, monopolizing it, absorbing it, preventing you from thinking about anything other than work. It becomes your life. You become it. What is left?
You may not enjoy your work at first, but you soon change to accommodate it. In time, work comes to possess you so thoroughly that every moment away from work is spent recovering . . . in preparation for work. We come to accept work as a necessary sacrificial ritual, in which we sacrifice ourselves.
"Everybody needs love" and "everybody works" become uttered in the same breath - two dogmas that represent the cornerstones of our entire existence. Together, they successfully banish freedom of thought from society. Yet is this not what we really want?
Your good friends
An individual cannot have friends - by definition. So let your good friends be your thoughts of the Infinite, and have no friend besides; for what kind of friend could that be? Confide in God alone. Live with eternity.
The last thing you should ever do is offer your hand to a person in need. Look into their eyes; how deep is their delusion! How could you give further poison to one already dying from it?
Spiritual friends
A spiritual friendship is no ordinary friendship. Your best spiritual friend must also be your best enemy, for they will challenge you, and pinch and poke you into action. Spiritual friends do not wish to flatter you, and make you stronger, but to undermine your false prides and make you weaker; because only the weak are strong enough, and sensitive enough for God. Only the weak can have doubts, a chink in the armour through which God can enter.
Television
Television represents one thousand more ways to avoid thought. Could there be a more lazy way to live? At least before television we would have to occupy our own minds, which would require some power of will. But now, with the pressing of a button, you can have your mind flooded with the thoughts of another.
Some of you cry "But what about the educational programs?". All I can say is that if those programs are educational then education is dead. Your "education" is merely a self-righteous form of entertainment. The horrifying thing is, that you have been taught to regard education in this distorted way by television!
Research has found that even though we watch television for relaxation, we are less relaxed after watching television than beforehand. I am sure this is because we feel degraded by the way we are treated by this imposing machine. Television is aimed at the lowest common denominator in society - so we the viewers are treated as fools. Nor do we have any direct control over the content or timing of what flashes on the screen before us. Our self-esteem suffers even more when we realize that we are so wretchedly weak that we still love the drug of television despite the utterly disrespectful way it treats us.
Television watching is like smoking, in that the psychological harm it does to a person in terms of guilt, degradation, and demoralization, probably outweighs any other harm.
Simply looking at the night sky and the infinity of space can be enough to awaken us to our true nature. Perhaps this is the very reason we invented television - to keep us indoors, to glue our eyes to, and prevent them from straying.
And perhaps this is also why so many of us live in cities, where atmospheric pollution and bright lights render the stars invisible. We huddle together in these, which we call the great cultural centres, as though digging ourselves a hole to hide in - while all around us the magnificence and glory of Nature go unnoticed.
Lust
(...)
However, if you are not enlightened, then lust is a part of your being and you cannot realistically hope to be instantly free of it. In this case it is good to lust for Truth and for God. Only a ravenous hunger for God can quash lust and desire. If a child cries loudly enough for its mother, she soon comes running. The fire grows until the fire brigade are called into action; then it is rapidly quenched. If you love the Truth enough, it will not be able to evade you.
Likewise, if you wish to possess anything at all, whether it be man, woman, or money, then make sure you always occupy your mind with it, and desire it with all your heart. You will gradually come to identify yourself so closely with the object, that you will feel inseparable from it. The foolish find much pleasure in such loss of identity. They say they "lose themselves" in the things they love. The wise weep over their plight.
Attached or unattached
The supported man and the standing man look the same, but move quite differently. A puppet does not have the freedom of a human being. A fool does not have the freedom of a sage.
Romantic love
With our romantic love we are like a dog chasing a car. There is much thrill in the chase, but what to do with the car when you catch it? We are more animal than we give ourselves credit for.
Masturbation and drugs
All worldly joys are wholly selfish, whether they arise from compassion, love, or greed: thus all worldly happiness is masturbatory in nature.
Similarly, all attachments are drugs: thus we are all drug addicts.
Talk
The reason people talk so much, is because if they didn't, their brains might start to work.
The approval of others
We poor fools seem to find our identity in how others perceive us. We need their approval before we can do anything! Men especially need the approval of women. Perhaps this is a legacy from childhood, and the wish to please the mother.
The wise are altogether different. They know themselves as individuals; that is, separate from the world, where praise or hatred cannot touch them. They are mere robots, and God is the programmer; and robots do not seek approval as they go about their business. The sun needs approval from no-one, and it shines. The wind needs approval from no-one, and it blows.
Not that it would ever occur to the wise man to seek approval, for who could judge him anyway? And what of it if they could? Who, when faced with the terrifying rawness of true thought, would approve? If the wise man ever meets with the approval of a woman, it is because she has not confronted his thought.
The sagely mind is free and perfect. It has no capacity, and therefore no room for praise or blame. This is no human mind.
Renunciation
Truth appears cold - to one attached to warmth. One cannot throw away attachments - they must be outgrown.
Sometimes it is better to give-in to an attachment - to get it out of the system. The ego must be convinced beyond doubt of the wretchedness of life. Stubbornly, the ego seems only to be able to learn the hard way.
It is not enough to dislike attachments; there must be disgust. Yet nothing conquers quite like love! To actually love being free of attachment, free of life, wild and unrestrained as the wind: that's what I call vicious!
Four entrustments:
1. Entrusting one's mind and thoughts to the attainment of enlightenment.
2. Entrusting one's life to life as a beggar.
- Accepting poverty.
3.Entrusting one's life to life as a beggar to death - Not holding any hopes and dreams of success.
4. Entrusting one's life to a barren cave.
- Accepting that society regards you as an enemy, and will make no place for you.
Three diamond-like convictions:
1. To be stalwart towards hindrances caused by friends and relatives.
2. To disregard the opinion of worldly people.
- No matter whether they call you a madman or a saint.
3. To firmly guard one's practice.
Birthday
Ramana Maharishee said: "You who wish to celebrate the birthday, seek first whence was your birth. Your true birthday is when you enter that which transcends birth and death - the eternal being. On your birthday you should mourn your entry into life. To glory in it, and celebrate it, is like decorating a corpse." To celebrate the birthday is to celebrate the ego, and is to fight against destiny. Only when life and death have been transcended can destiny play its joyful games unrestricted.
To judge another
There is no greater virtue than judgement, and it is so easy to judge truly. You can judge a tree by the fruit that it bears: how can it deceive? How can you be misled or mistaken if you trace the pathways of cause and effect?
Judge a man's character by his actions, look at his friends, and you too will learn to see through walls.
What is history?
Is history a purely academic study of the dead past? Or is it rather a study of human behaviour, and therefore a biological science? I put it to you that history is a living material out of which we are made, and is therefore a study of our "past lives".
Lies
Refraining from speaking the truth is also a form of lying. We argue that "white lies" help us to avoid the unpleasant confrontations that would only upset others; but then our whole existence becomes a white lie. And while snow is pure white, in a blizzard it becomes black.
"Lying is a refusal to accept and relate the truth exactly as we see it. And lying does not require effort, as we like to imagine. Lies come effortlessly in the form of feelings, convictions and beliefs. And we refuse to believe that we are so evil to be able to lie effortlessly. Another lie!" Nietzsche
The immortal society
Business owners and advertisers justify corrupting and debasing society with their wares by saying "we only give people what they want." They speak truly enough, the problem is, commercialism serves our base animal nature, rather than our higher intellectual self. Commercialism is geared towards the lowest common denominator in human consciousness - which is sub-human.
Similarly, hypnotists claim that people will not do anything under hypnotic influence they do not really want to do. Again, this may be true, but it is also true that hypnotism removes a person's inhibitions, their conscience - unleashing the raw ego.
Desire
God is like a magnet, which does not attract iron that is rusty and dirty. God cannot draw you to Him when your mind is laden with the rust of material desires, and when the dust of sensual craving sits heavily upon you.
Your many desires are like the coins in your pocket. The more you have, the more they weigh you down. Why don't you convert them into the one paper note of higher currency? - the currency of Heaven?
Two seasons
I once heard a story of two men who had both visited a certain river. In a discussion between the two, the first man said that he saw the river full, while the second man said that it was dry. After much argument they decided to go back to the place and ask the locals. The locals said they were both right, as they saw the river at different times of the year.
Words cause problems in the same manner. If we regard words as the actual objects instead of mere labels, then we are indeed creating problems for ourselves. Two people may hold the same view, yet think they believe differently simply because they use different words. Alternatively, two people may hold conflicting views yet will believe they share the same view because of similar words.
Greed
Greed is good
A noble motto
Which also means
Greed is God
To enlightenment
You must commit yourself to your task as a fish commits itself to water. Thirst for God as much as a dying man thirsts for life. Long for enlightenment as much as a drowning man longs for a breath of air. If you don't strongly determine to get up in the morning, you remain asleep. Similarly, if you don't determine to break the cycle of attachment, it will continue forever. You must will to die to the world. If you are uncertain whether to be truthful or not, how can you possibly live in truth? (...)
The Jump
We people live within a tall container. If you can jump half a metre, you are regarded as talented. If you can jump a little over half a metre, then you are a superman and a genius. But jump clear out of the container - and you are not seen!
God is dead
It is said: God is dead. But if God is dead, then Man too is dead.
Holidays
Someone on holiday forces themselves to let-go of all their worries. They reason they have gone to so much trouble, and spent so much money on their holiday that they would be stupid not to enjoy themselves. They would feel a failure if they were not able to relax. With this powerful motivation they force all disturbing thoughts from the mind.
Now take your case: you have been chosen to take the holiday for the whole human species! The onus is on you to take a rest in God on their behalf. Are you going to forego the holiday that the species is relying on you so much to take?
Capitalism /socialism
A capitalist is someone who selfishly wants more than others. A socialist is someone who selfishly doesn't want others to have more than himself.
The last week of your life
Can you afford to waste time? You could die at any moment. When will you be struck down by a heart attack, a stroke, a mad killer, or a drunken driver? Who can tell?
If this was the last week of your life, what would you like to be doing with it? This could well be the last week of your life! Will you spend it slaving for those extra dollars you don't really need? Will you spend it bowing to your wife's foibles? For what will you be remembered when you die? - if in fact your life is worth remembering at all.
Only the wise are worthy of remembrance. They alone have discovered the mystery of existence and the salvation of man. This is no time to waste you fool!
Teaching too soon
Qualify yourself before you begin teaching others. Don't rush to make your mark. Those with tattoos often wish they did not have them.
When a person begins teaching, they cease learning. Or rather, when they cease learning they begin to teach. When they have taken all they can comfortably take from knowledge, they seek the comforts of the teaching role - money, power, and respect. Now, all their time is spent trying to maintain appearances, playing the guru, and playing up to the expectations of their students. Now they have not the time nor the inclination to seek truth. On the contrary, now they are expected to know it, perish the thought of seeking it.
Now they pile up an armoury of words and categories with which to bludgeon the weak into submission, and to protect against the strong. (...)
Madness
I heard a psychologist say that the most sane person he had ever known, he had to commit to a psychiatric ward.
The weak are struck down by Reality. But those who are never touched by the tongue of its lightning are immeasurably weaker. They close their eyes when truth comes near, set up protective walls to shield themselves from destiny.
They are like a person living in a dark room with a snake. "Be careful of that snake!" you shout. "No, its only a piece of rope" they reply. "Turn on the light and you will see." "No, it would hurt my eyes."
Scholars
Could there be anything more ineffectual and pitiful than "comparative philosophy"? Note that it is neatly removed from philosophy by one word - "comparative". Yet what philosophy today is not comparative? The philosophers of today are mere onlookers and jugglers of other peoples words. They are parasites! Their aim in life is not to learn the truth, but to add to the literature of their genre.
When I read the attempts of these quasi-men to analyze, and even criticize the likes of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard . . . I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
"We are more comfortable with the Infinite these days" they tell me. And there is pride in their voices. A pride that does not infect me. For these cold ones have fashioned their comfort through mental trickery. I see them hiding there behind a hundred new categories, and a thousand new books - and they dare not even peep around the side.
The self
The grand teachers of submission have such magnificent teachings of the self; who could fault their cleverness? Their teaching goes something like this: "All concepts must be conceived by something. Even the concept 'self' must have a conceiver - the self behind all concepts is the True Self." They say "I think therefore I am." Why must concepts emanate from a conceiver? When we analyze any concept we find that it has neither a beginning nor an end - now, where on earth is this "concept" and "conceiver"? It is all very well to say "I think therefore I am,", but the premise "I think" has no foundation as the "I" only comes into existence after the fact, that is, after the conceiving has been done. "I think therefore I am" really means "I think I am therefore I am."
(...)
Hated by the world
The first time people hear the sage's harsh words they dismiss him as a troublemaker. The second time they dismiss him as an antisocial person with "problems". The third time - and by now his truths are beginning to strike home - they call him "mad". The fourth time, and they are calling for his head!
Society does not hate only what the thinker thinks, but that he thinks. They hate his presumption that he might think for himself. And they hate his superiority when he tells them "I am right to think, and you are wrong for refusing to do so." He is the conscience society never had, and is hated as such.
Kevin Solway
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