There are no accidents

Was searching for something over the weekend and accidentally stumbled upon this website. Talks about the various states of meditation

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-samadhi/jhana.html

And since there is no such thing called accident, I went deep into the article and it helped me understand the missing point in my meditation -- directing thought and continuous evaluation (which the article calls as evaluation)

Both mind and breath start from the same point, its not possible for the mind to be active when breath is traced to its source and kept there. Breath and mind are very related, controlling one automatically controls the other.

SEEING the thought linkage

Have been seeing how thoughts link to past memories. Then the chain reaction starts, those memories link up to other memories. Ramification is the nature of the mind.

When I see things in the external world, the first thing that happens in thought linkage. This is the first thought.

This thought leads to desire, then to action. Observed this yesterday when I took a decision to go to a restaurant. A previous rendezvous with a friend at that restaurant and food coupled with the thought that my family would like to taste the same made me take that action.

This is how we go about making most decisions and actions. The actions match what patanjali says : i.e. they fall under escape from pain or run after pleasure category.

The reason for this is identification with the ego.

whether the mind is desiring something or escaping from a problem, what's really happening is identification of the seer with the ego and objects of seeing.

In short : when you desire or fear, it indicates the presence (emergence) of the ego.

Beautiful sun rays amidst clouds

Saw this scene amidst watching my ego while returning home from work. Not sure what all my ego will try to plan this weekend.

Happy observation !

Knowledge and the conditioning it creates

I read this article ( http://www.well.com/user/jct/mystiq1.htm ) about how U.G Krishna Murthy attained enlightenment. One thing that stood out for me is the way knowledge was not interfering with his process of thinking which made him stay in the de-clutched state.

We all know the cycle of Gnana-ichcha-Kriya (how knowledge leads to desire and then to action) -- we do things every day based on this principle. Things we buy, things we fear and escape from etc all these decisions are influenced by past knowledge. This leads to desire,anger fear etc based on the nature of the knowledge. Then w take action based on that frame of mind - not always the best decisions as they are tainted with past. The best decisions are those that are made in the eternal now.

Don't carry the burdens

Karma and its reactions make people upset and cause conflicts in interpersonal relationships.

This makes them say many things which they don't mean. Patiently listening to such people with affectionate detachment, holding to the self constantly, and knowing the fact that all these talks are basically burdens which arise due to karma, its very easy to be a calm and patient listener.