We’ll continue the topic of the chakras next week. Today, let us focus on some fundamentals.
We live in a perpetual state of non-acceptance, without ever realizing it. However, to progress on the path, there are some basic acceptances that we must absorb into our being. Let us study them.
The first basic acceptance is: “The only purpose of birth is for the soul to rise in consciousness.” It is with this aim that the soul seeks out human form.
However, at the time of birth, a sudden drop in vibrations sends the soul into a fleeting swoon. In that moment, it forgets why it has taken birth. And from there begins the outward journey of the soul - now encased in human form - to move towards the external. It automatically begins to focus on the survival of the form, tries to acquire wealth & fame (approval from the other) and completely forgets the reason why it’s here. The first basic acceptance is a reminder of why we have come here, but our lives are spent in denial of this fact.
The second basic acceptance is: “Happiness is a quality of my true nature. I only have to drop the false to realize my innate state of happiness.”
We spend our entire lives searching for happiness, thus denying what we already have. The second basic acceptance teaches us that we do not need to search for happiness. We must only get rid of the obstacles that deny our inner state of happiness.
Yet, we persist with our search. We say to ourselves; a little more money and I will be happy. Maybe, if I marry a beautiful girl, I will be happy. If my children are successful, I will be happy. If I have a nice house or if I am famous and have lots of friends, I will be happy.
As long as our happiness is dependent on something external, we are slaves to the outer. Our so-called happiness comes from slavery. In real happiness, we experience freedom.
The third basic acceptance is: “All things are true of me”. This is very difficult to accept because our ego and self-love come in the way. However, we must understand that when someone calls us a liar, a cheat, selfish etc., they are speaking the truth.
We all have a conscious mind and an unconscious mind. The conscious mind is minute compared to the unconscious. When we are accused of something, it is a glimpse into our unconscious minds, the seat of our animal nature.
It takes great courage to accept what we are. When someone calls us a cheat, our ego and self-love react. But if we bring some awareness to the moment, we will go on a journey of exploration into our unconscious minds and discover the ways we really do cheat. In simply seeing this, there will be an expansion of consciousness. That part of our dark side will be illuminated, and we will be free from the pattern of cheating.
It holds true the other way around as well. When we accuse or criticize someone of being mean or angry or selfish, we reveal what lies hidden in our unconscious, yet unseen. We may only see it in others, but it is really our own quality.
The fourth basic acceptance is, “It is always my fault”. We always blame others. We do not realize that every event in our lives happens through our invitation. No one else is ever at fault. This is our basic responsibility to accept and be accountable for all that happens to us.
Through blame comes the tendency to complain. We do not realize that when we blame and complain, we have already slipped down to the lowest step on the ladder of consciousness and are now declaring our affinity for this place. A seeker of truth, a student of consciousness, can only rise up the ladder of consciousness if he is free of blame and complaint.
For the fifth basic acceptance, I will quote Mr. Gurdjieff: “Man cannot do”. This seemingly simple statement is difficult to truly understand. We feel we are the masters of our destiny. We think we earn money, become famous etc. from our own efforts. But Gurdjieff says everything happens, there is nothing we do. And to realize this, we must rise to a higher state of consciousness. Then from the top of the hill, when we look down at how we lived, we will realize that, in reality, everything just happened. We had no part to play.
Our unconscious minds are full of memory patterns formed through thousands of years of repetition. These memory patterns, called samskaras, invite every event in our life. It is these samskaras which block the light and intelligence of consciousness from entering our lives. Thus, we are not able to see that we are slaves to their bidding.
Presently, man has a fragmented will. It is simply a collection of desires and because of that, we do not have any real will and thus, we cannot do. However, we do have the free will to work upon ourselves and rise in consciousness. In doing so, we are free of the samskaras and for the first time we reach a state where we now have will and therefore, we can do.
The sixth and last basic acceptance is that “Man is asleep”. This is difficult to understand. We believe we wake up, go to work, come home and go about our daily lives. How could we be asleep, we may say. Thus, we do not accept this and live-in denial. The work says man has the possibility of self-consciousness. He can perform any function, like thinking, feeling or moving, with an extra consciousness of self. But he spends his whole life without awakening to this possibility. He remains asleep to this higher state of consciousness. So, the last basic acceptance is to admit to ourselves - ‘I am asleep’.
Excellent article Sir.
Can you elaborate more on : “Fifth basic acceptance – Man cannot do?” – is it because, Man is a machine. He is hypnotized/identified all the time and prakruti gets it done through man?
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Pranam. Thanks for being there always.
Thank you for the Blogs, This is my Favourite one. Every time i forget about self this gives motivation, where to look and what to look. “Having a knowledge and implementation of knowledge is different “ Shri Tavariaji
But such blogs are reminding like alarm, Wake Up.
Kind Regards
Krishnadev
Sir
What parth to choose,Tavariyaji or fourth way