The race for experiences in the spiritual world, a trap which can be easily overcome!

Jai mahakaal. A meeting with a friend.

I met a friend recently who was very passionately explaining about the out of the world experience he had, while in ujjain mahakaal temple of lord Shiva. The experience of the arti at the temple was simply divine and he forgot his own existence as he immersed himself into the process. 

Recollecting my experiences

As i listened to him, i recalled, a journal where, i have noted my share of a few experiences, which i can't discuss in detail here. Some were at select places, some in dreams, which i still remember, some in temples, some with people. I used to be very fascinated by these experiences and looked forward to them from time to time. The mind was at play, as a role of the seeker, i was pursuing pleasures of having experiences...

Why is this happening.

We are conditoned to seek pleasure by having or doing something. We feel the more we have or do, or the variety of it, will give us more pleasure. The entire business is about experiences. We have simply extended the same to spiritual aspects, not realising that the game here is completely different!

Billions of experience with 19 factors.

The mandukya upanishad describes the creation of experiences with 4 parts of the mind (identity, memory, feeling, intellect), 5 senses (hear, touch, smell, sight, taste), 5 actions (grasp, walk, talk, excrete, reproduce) and 5 elements (space, air, fire, water, earth). This is a total of 19. Imagine the number of permutation combinations of these, to create billions of experiences, depending on the variety, sequence, intensity of these 19.

We are trapped in the world of experiences.

No wonder, it is said that the world is a creation of the mind! And all this happens in a split second in the mind! The sheer complexity and speed, makes one trapped in the games the mind plays.

What is an experience.

When it's not constant, it's called an experience. Experience happens when a state is altered. So all experiences of seeing lights, feeling warm in certain areas of body, vibrations, hearing sounds are all experiences... They are felt in a certain state of meditation or practise and cease to exist in the normal state. Experiences are felt in the mind and the mind loves change, it's the nature of the mind.

Experience and expertise.

This is often confused. Experience is about many things. Expertise is about one thing. One has to develop the expertise of being in a constant state, rather than being in a constant chase of experiences.

The object, person and action.

The person experiences, when action is taken in an object. So to have an experience, one needs two entities and one action. In adwaita, there is only one, which is the self realised by crossing the koshas. So the question of experience does not arise.

Difference between experience and state.

When it's constant, it's called a state. The aim is to be in a constant state. Not in experiences which are not constant. The sat chit and anantam is the constant state. Truth energy and eternity. This is the being, the state.

The race for spiritual experiences.

Just like in the material world, there is a race for possessions, cars, bank balance, money etc. In the spiritual world, also there is a race for experiences. This race is confirmed by position, responsibility, authority, in different organisations, sampradayas etc. 

Benchmarking.

Experiences, though needed, are not the destination and vary person to person, in sequence and in time. What is experienced by a person in a sequence may not be experienced by another person, with the same intensity. There is no benchmark here. 

Authentic experiences.

Though there are generally accepted and documented experiences after following certain practises. One can rely on experiences from a line of gurus, and by correlating them to other experiences from other paths.

Experiences with substances

Some people use substances like marijuana etc to create experiences. These, though capable of creating altered states of mind, have their own limitations.

Belief and Experience

As jadadguru adi Shankaracharya says, don't believe anything blindly. Study, contemplate, reflect, discuss, debate, experience and then believe. Santana dharma is not about blind faith or superstition, as some think. It is based on deep understanding of the self, based on self experience.

The role of experiences.

All processes in the 4 margas (karma, gyana, bhakti, yoga) are designed to make the mind thoughtless. From many to few to one to none thoughts. On the way, there are experiences. They are markers or milestones on the way. That's all.

The Experience trap.

One after the other the seeker chases experiences. Temples, pilgrimages, gurus, practises, the chase is on, all the time. The freedom, or moksha remains elusive. To get freedom, even the role of the seeker needs to be given up. 

Courses for spiritual experiences.

There are many courses that are focused on experiences. People describe their experiences in such retreats and training programs. One has to remember that experiences happen at the body, energy, mind triade. There is no experience in the self and bliss domains of the 5 koshas or layers, as the mind itself becomes the observed, the observer and the act of observing, all as one. If you observe carefully, most of the modern gurus, are focused on experiences and not self realisation. I wonder sometimes, that are the people not ready for it, or are the gurus not taking people there, as there is no business to be done there!

Role of the true guru.

A true guru, doing Vidya daan, not being commercial, guides the disciple personally to go beyond experiences into the self and blissful domains. I am fortunate and blessed to have my gurus grace manifest in different forms to guide me from time to time.

Getting out of the trap.

This is easily possible when you see self, different than the roles of self, relationships, mind, matter, everything as given in nirvanashatakam.

Samadhi, where experiences don't exist

The fourth state or turya or samadhi, similar to deep sleep is where the mind is silent. This is described in mandukya upanishad as well as shiv Manas Puja as "nidra samadhi sthiti" However, we live in a material world and have roles. Is there a way to constantly be aware of our state, while we perform the duties of the role?

How to be in a constant state.

This is easily achieved by being in the eternal aum state. This is the state, when the aum sound is heard in the waking and  dreaming state during sleep. I am not aware of the deep sleep state, as i have not experienced deep sleep, when i was aware of the aum sound one of the nights, as an experiment. Next day, i did not feel tired etc, which one normally feels, when deep sleep does not happen. 

Group aum chanting.

The practise of group aum chanting, is a wonderful way to connect to the self and be in the state. See the link below.

https://www.limaye.org/post/group-aum-chanting-reveals-surrendering-to-supreme-consciousness-being-a-witness-without-desires

Experiences will come on their own.

As we live, there will be experiences. The seemingly normal experience of breathing will also seem divine as the Pranas, the intellect, the self, reside in the body of the lord as told in shiv Manas Puja by adi Shankaracharya. Everything is then amazing and wonderful. There are no States of less and more left. Everything is divine.

Connecting with beings with higher purpose.

Pilgrimages, satsang, temples, meditation etc. Now have a new meaning. You are no longer in the awe of the how big, how beautiful, how magnificent things are. You go to the essence. To the core and connect with beings who are at a higher level, who manifest as books, thoughts, people, things and events, for you to perceive through your senses!

Freedom.

Freedom or moksha is not after death. Death is only for the body. Even after the death, a part of the mind remains. The non attachement, even to freedom is the true freedom! True liberation, true moksha.

Rebirth.

The desire to have experiences, creates the next birth and the next one and the next one. In each birth, there are roles and desires. Some remain unfulfilled. The cycle hence continues. The solution is not, not to have desires. The solution is to know that these are attached to roles, and roles is not the self. That's the fundamental realisation you need.

Blessing

Blessing you with being in the constant aum state, beyond the experiences perceived by the mind.