Musings on Awareness

“Musings on Awareness”

 Prof. G. Venkataraman  

Awareness refers to a state of Total Understanding, which in turn means realising that God is in everything, everywhere, all the time.

How do we actually experience this Eternal Omnipresence of God and why do we have to do that?

We all engage in “action”, be it voluntary (conscious action) or involuntary (breathing). We need firstly to consider:

 . How we relate to the environment and the entities as action takes place in a particular setting and a particular ambiance.

The Golden Triangle // Inter -connectedness

A hypothetical example -place the Lord at the apex of the triangle, Man at the lower left and Society/Nature at the lower right. Let us learn man's interaction with God, Society and Nature.

In worldly life, man usually forgets God and also the need to follow Truth and Right Conduct especially in business transactions, giving rise to corrupt businessmen and politicians, greedy doctors, who are more concerned about payment than administering treatment and so forth.

Our actions are contrary to our Divine Nature. Man forgets God not only in dealing with his fellow human beings but also in dealing with Nature, resulting in wide scale destruction and ravaging of the ecosystem and the environment. Big Corporations also exacerbate these problems. We fail to realise that the same God we pray to is also the same Spirit present in all creation, in the physical and subtle forms.

We must realise that we all are children of God, the same God, no matter to which religion we belong. Next, we must realise that we live on a planet called Earth, which is a part of Nature. All humans live on this planet and there is only one owner, which is God. This compassionate God, has not only provided us with free accommodation, but has also given us:  Air, to breathe; Water, to drink; and Sunlight, to enable us to see.

The individual and Society are two sides of the same coin. If the individual is the microcosm, then Society is the macrocosm. So, Society is a macro manifestation of the individual and that God is immanent in Society the same way He is immanent also in the individual. It is for that reason one must serve Society, for when we serve Society in the spirit of selfless love and without expectation of reward, we are in fact serving the Lord Himself

“Service to Man is service to God”

“Hands that serve are holier than lips that pray”

We need to lead disciplined and righteous lives to earn peace and happiness. We must see God in Society as also in Nature.

The Spirit within is what drives people to let the “divine light” within, shine. By helping others, we inadvertently do our duty to Society. 

Responsibility and the Spirit of Youth

It is the responsibility of children, especially sons, to take care of aged and ailing parents. The argument today is that we live in different times; both husband and wife have to go to work and the pressures of modern day living unbearable. This may be true, but children must always remember the sacrifices made by their parents in their upbringing.

Today, every young couple must pose this question to themselves “How would I feel if I'm driven out of home when I am old, discarded like a worn-out shoe? 

The young must start their lives, not by demanding their rights but by recognising their responsibilities

Limb Hierarchy

Man is a limb of Society; Society is a limb of Nature; and finally Nature itself is a limb of God. To appreciate this concept, we may consider a simple analogy.

Let's start with a finger. The finger is a part of the hand; the hand in turn is a part of the forearm, which is a part of the full arm; the arm is part of the body as a whole. So, here we have a practical example of a hierarchy in relation to the body of man. Can you ever envisage a situation where the hand would deliberately injure or harm the arm or body? In the same way, every human who is true to his or her nature cannot harm Society and Nature.

Who am I

Each one of us does have different identities: at the bodily level, we are the son or daughter of so and so; at an emotional level; we are defined by virtue of our behavioural characteristics, being kind, compassionate, cruel, miserly etc.

Few people recognise our divine identity which is the most important identity at the spiritual level. If an individual feels that there is a God within them, can you imagine how this affects his or her relationship with Society. The realisation that God is very much in Society becomes evident. Then, adherence to morality under all circumstances is a part of that individuals personality.

 

Social Priorities

In a Society where divinity is manifest, it would care for its citizens, especially the poor and helpless. What are the poor desperate for? Food, shelter, clothing, health care, education etc. Today, there is hardly any Society that is bothered about these.

Energy security: The root of the oil problem is “oil addiction”, especially by advanced countries. The growing demand for luxury goods has fuelled the energy consumption of humanity. Electricity companies are happy about the profits they make, economists are satisfied that market forces are prevailing but everyone is choking with polluted air. This is the kind of illusion we are sucked into because of our ever increasing wants. Instead, why do we not think in terms of a simpler lifestyle and place a lid on excessive and wasteful consumption? We are being brain-washed by big business with multi-million Rand advertising budgets, trapping us into limitless consumerism. This greed decimates the “Golden Triangle”.

Ceiling on Desires  

We are allowing modern life to envelope us and then swallow us. We can prevent this by making a serious effort to place a ceiling on our desires, which is the only way to responsible and reasonable consumerism.

Reduced consumerism would lead to lower energy demands > significant reduction in burning of fossil fuels > less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere > cleaner air to breathe > lesser respiratory problems, better health and fewer medical bills > a healthier Society.

The less desires we have, the more time we can make for God. This is an important spiritual truth we have to digest.

Moral Foundation

Government elections cannot be contested without the “big money of vested interests”. Soon after elections, even in so called democracies, the financiers move in to get their rewards. And they do so by getting the government to lay down policies that favour them rather than the public. In the process, the government often ceases to represent Society; instead, it works to meet the demands of these lobbyists. As a result, Society does not get what is good for it.

What is not Spiritual?

All fields of life, including politics, bear a direct relationship to spirituality. Even Mahatma Gandhi never forgot spirituality while being immersed in politics

“A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes”.

“There is an indefinable mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it though I cannot see it”

Individual and Nature

“Modern man refers to ancients as superstitious and ignorant people. He ridicules them for worshipping mountains, rain, sky, animals and even snakes”.

But look what modern is doing:

. He is not just cutting trees but wiping out whole forests

. He is not just killing animals but wiping out whole species

. God gave man pure air to breathe, instead he is polluting it hugely

. God gave man water to drink; he not only wastes but also pollutes it

Now, who is better? Ancient man who reveres and respects Nature or modern man who thinks he owns Nature and is causing harm to it without realising he is causing harm to himself”.

One Mother Earth, 10 Billion Children to Feed

By 2050, the Earth's population is estimated to be about 10 billion. Would we be able to feed ourselves?

Apart from spiritual reasons, conservationists have done some practical calculations and have come up with a very compelling reason why mankind simply cannot afford to eat meat, which is now so popular in most countries. Believe it or not, it has all to do with land and water.

Food = Land + Water

The embedded water content of a product is the total volume of fresh water that is used to produce the product 

                      PRODUCT                                               EMBEDDED WATER CONTENT

                                (1 kg)                                                                                      (in litres)

                                Wheat                                                                                      1300

                                Rice                                                                                         3400

                                Milk (1L)                                                                                   1000

                                Sugar                                                                                      1500

                                Chicken                                                                                   3900

                                Beef                                                                                        1550

                                1 Apple                                                                                     70

                                1 Cotton Shirt                                                                          2700

                                1 cup of Tea                                                                             80

                                1 x A4 Paper                                                                             10

Source: waterfootprint.org/virtualwater.eu

Omnipresence of God

Man must go through life with full awareness of his Cosmic nature and his Cosmic connection with Creation. This awareness is vital because it alone gives expression to the Soul of man.

Today's world is full of problems and mostly due to the dominance of the head over the heart, with the soul being denied self-expression. The head can easily create problems but seldom solves them, especially when the problems arise from lust, greed, anger and jealousy. By denying our finer nature, we keep shutting out the soul from being given a chance to bring peace and harmony to a troubled mankind.

Divine Signature in every Atom

All creation, be animate or inanimate, is made up of atoms of all kinds of elements ranging from oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, all the way to calcium, phosphorous, iron and so on. There are atoms present everywhere and locked within it, enormous stores of energy. In fact, the energy contained in just five grams of uranium was enough to wipe out Hiroshima. The presence of atomic energy everywhere is one simple example of the signature of Omnipresence.

Awareness of Existence

God's greatest miracle is the human body. Although everything that exists is made up of atoms, a living being has the capacity for consciousness and self-awareness whereas inert matter does not. Scriptures say this capacity is characterised by a force, popularly termed as the “Life force”.

We all take our bodies for granted not realising what flexibility we have. Just watch a tennis match, ice skating or a ballet performance – amazing flexibility everywhere.

Again, consider the human fingers. They can knit, paint, sculpt, perform surgery, and play all kinds of musical instruments, to name a few. The famous scientist Newton once exclaimed, “The thumb alone is enough to prove that God exists”.

We agree that the human body is packed with innumerable wonders; but in what way does that prove the omnipresence of God. This is where evolution comes in. The universe is a constantly evolving system and as far as we are concerned, there are three distinct stages of evolution that matter. We will concern ourselves with the third stage, about three billion years ago, life first appeared on Earth. Life slowly evolved from lower forms like plants and insects to more complex forms like fish, birds and animals. And, at the end, came man.

For every species of life form, there is a “gene”. At the molecular level, the gene holds all the information about the species and the particular individual in the series. For example, in the human being, the human genome not only holds all the characteristics that identify the being as human, but also the characteristics of the individual, such as the colour of the skin, eyes, facial features etc.

This molecular arrangement can be disturbed by many factors, including radiation, and when that happens, we say the gene mutates. It could happen that the mutated gene could be the beginning of an entirely new species, evolution of species at a molecular level. Mutation is widely believed to be a random process. Charles Darwin said of evolution that “only the fittest of the newly emerging species survive, and evolution is thus a sequence of species that survive, coming one after the other”. This became better defined once the structure of the DNA was unravelled. 

Pure Consciousness = Formless God

Cosmic Omnipresence pervades the Universe at three levels

 . at the gross level, cosmic energy resides in atoms which are everywhere

 . next, cosmic energy operates in living systems as “Life force”

 . at the highest and subtlest level, cosmic energy exists as Primary Consciousness

Pure Consciousness is Supreme: It exists by itself during creation and dissolution of the Manifest Universe

^

Consciousness latent in Humans

^

Life force in Living Beings

^

Energy in Atoms

^

Omnipresence of Formless God

One should not imagine that when the Universe is created, the primordial background of Universal Consciousness disappears. The latter continues to exist, acting as a backdrop in the Manifested Universe. This backdrop acts rather like a physical field driving evolution of living species in the direction where consciousness flowers fully, just like a fruit bud growing and ripening into a sweet fruit. Where evolution of life is concerned, that fruit is the human being.

The Conscience or the Divine voice in our Spiritual Heart

During a solar eclipse, something comes between us and the Sun, completely blocking the light, even if only for a short time. Yet, even such a bright object as the Sun can be covered up, plunging the Earth into darkness.

So too, in each of us, there is our spiritual heart, the seat of God. God shines brilliantly from the heart, even brighter than a thousand suns. However, a lot of evil lurks in the darkest corners of the mind using lust, greed, jealousy, anger, hate, pride, arrogance as its principal agents, creating an eclipse blocking out this light, sometimes altogether.

Although God resides in the heart of all, the mind can easily make man forget this vital fact. Unfortunately, that happens often, and is the root cause for most of the problems facing humanity today.

When we forget God, we need to seek and submit to a spiritual teacher, who will help remove spiritual ignorance. These “Gurus” help us develop spiritual discrimination or intellect, then the clouds of ignorance disappear and we able to see God within and also listen to His voice, ever ready to convey advice. The voice within is the voice of the conscience, as it is sometimes referred to. 

The perpetual restlessness of the Mind and its never-ceasing random thoughts generate internal “noise”, drowning out the voice of God within. Quieten the Mind by ever remembering the name of your Lord. Train the mind to dwell on God. Make the mind your servant and not the master.

The conscience present in different individuals is all a part of One Universal Consciousness, from which our universe and everything in it came into existence. In other words, individual conscience and Universal Consciousness are one and the same.

God and Evil

If God is omnipresent, why is there so much evil? Recall that God is present in humans in three forms: the gross, the subtle and the causal. Humans have no control over the presence of God at the first two levels. However at the third and highest level, humans can shut out the Divine Effulgence. If that effulgence is allowed to shine, the person becomes a saint. If, on the other hand, that effulgence is shut out and darkness prevails, then that person can become the very devil.

So, God is present in the heart of a murderer too, but unfortunately, that person chooses to be guided by his misguided mind, ignoring God within. God does not and will not thrust Himself  upon us. He will certainly make Himself available but if we decline this opportunity, we have only ourselves to blame.

For better understanding, imagine a big river across which there is a huge dam. Water gets stored in the dam when the sleuths are closed. Downstream, one may see a dry riverbed, but that is because water is not allowed to flow. If the sleuths are opened, then the river will not run dry at all. In other words, God is present even in a murderer, but that person is not allowing the latent Divinity to manifest itself. There is much evil in this world because humans are too busy to allow the Divinity a chance to express itself.

The Mind

All human decisions are governed by two choices; the first is to consult our mind and the other is to consult our conscience (heart). When the Mind takes instructions from the Heart, this is the path of Righteousness. But when decisions are made by the Mind which functions as the ego, then bad advice is given based on all evil tendencies lurking inside. This is the cause of most problems we face daily in our lives. This is the tragedy of man, with so many things to distract his attention.

The mind is extraordinarily powerful and the source of all amazing creativity; it receives its creative power from God. However, God did not program the mind of humans to automatically and always follow the path of right conduct. You have been given freedom by God to use the powers of the mind in any way you want, but at a price. You would be held accountable for your actions. If you do good, you will receive suitable credit and Grace but if you use the mind to do evil, then you have to “pay heavily”. The mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy. 

Mind and Senses – Partners in Crime

Why cannot a man with an alcohol addiction give up drinking? Because he has become a slave to his senses.

God in His infinite mercy has endowed us with five important sense capabilities that enable us to experience the outer world through the sense of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. These senses operate through organs that act as input devices in a modern computer. They gather information from the outer world and transmit it “inside” to the brain where it is processed and also stored.

The senses and the brain help us to move about in this world, take care of ourselves and perform numerous functions efficiently. However, where does spirituality come into all this?

The Crown of Creation

The brain of a human being is a vast expanse and in spiritual terms, comprises of three regions:

                                                                   The lower, middle and higher mind

The lower mind performs functions that relate to existence and survival in the external world – seeking shelter, getting food, avoiding danger and self-preservation instincts.

The middle mind has enormous capabilities and also extra-ordinarily powerful. It is this that is the repository of all logical capabilities, reasoning power, and creative skills. Thus if we have made enormous progress in the arts, literature, sciences and technology, it is all due to the immense power that God has packed into the middle mind. The middle mind is not only powerful but also deadly, when not handled with care. The middle mind can mislead dangerously if the individuals ego is not kept “in check”.

The higher mind enables us to be in touch with God within. It is only when the higher mind is active that the human qualities like love, compassion, forgiveness etc. manifest and enable humans to adhere to Truth and Righteousness.

Lord God, while blessing man with the middle mind and its wonderful capabilities, also attached a price tag. God gave man this great power on condition that he takes orders from the higher mind. Then God warns man; “If, however, you switch off the higher mind, then this very middle mind that can take you to great heights would also plunge you into the deepest of abysses! Beware!!”  

To understand how exactly this happens, we must first start with the three aspects that every human being is a composite of the gross body, the subtle mind and the causal heart.

Three Genetic Sources

It turns out that each entity has its own ancestry and gene.

Gross Body

The gene for the gross body comes from our biological parents and ancestors (physical)

Subtle Mind

The subtle/mental genes that shape our mind are traits acquired in earlier births (behavioural)

Causal Heart (Atma)

These heart genes are Divine Genes, coming directly from God – Has a moderating influence on the other two types of genes. Divine genes represent the brakes; if this brake fails or gets disconnected, disaster is inevitable.

The Higher Mind

To attain the realm of the higher mind, would depend on an individuals Gunas or qualities. These can be managed and shaped through sense and mind control with lots of hard practise and much effort.

Most prevalent traits in individuals who attain the realm of the higher mind are compassion, love, forbearance, spirit of sacrifice etc. These are divine qualities and those who possess them lead truly enriching lives. Only then can one experience the awareness of the Omnipresence of God – being conscious of God's presence everywhere in everything, all the time.

 

 

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