Achieving liberation in these difficult times

 

Realization is important, not how you achieve it.

You may have practiced many austerities in your past lives, visited many holy places, and met many sages. These activities will have given you a lot of satisfaction. The subtle memory of those lives haunt you and you want to proceed from where you left off.

You may have the habit of reading a lot many books. You wish to know about all possible ways to reach the divine.

You have experiences of deep meditation that you sorely miss.

But none of the above are really essential. They have their pitfalls too.

- Good deeds strengthen your ego

- Books are like a forest where you lose your way

- Meditation without being clear of the objective, or with the desire to achieve powers, deceives

The most important thing is a genuine desire for liberation. This desire opens the door that nothing else can. If you have a trace of this desire all you need to do is to fan it till it becomes the most important thing in your life.

Such a desire comes after aeons of lives devoted to the matters of the world. If you have it do not neglect it because you have undergone a great many experiences to earn it. It is your most expensive and cherished possession.

When this desire arises you wake up and start looking for ways and means to achieve the goal. Do not be disheartened if adverse circumstances come your way. That often tends to happen. You seek liberation and the world responds by throwing challenges and obstacles on the path.

Why does it happen? There are two broad reasons why;

- The world is a play. The forces of this world enjoy the play. They do not want it to end. Led by the Divine Mother they are ever engaged in perpetuating it. Whenever anybody seeks to opt out these forces do not like it and offer resistance

- The desire of liberation may have risen in you but the cumulative efforts of your past actions collected across innumerable past lives have to be dealt with. Therefore they start fructifying and trouble you

You need to do two things to get past these obstacles. You need to pray to the Divine Mother to release you. You need to bear everything with all the calm you can master because there is no other option.

You undergo suffering, yes. But it is this suffering that fuels the desire for liberation even more. You realize that the world cannot give you the peace you seek. Your pain makes you cry out to God. You gain from all of this. Suffering is the short cut to liberation. It also keeps you awake and prevents you from once again being enamored with the world. You attain a state of dispassion. You become a witness to the events of the world. You are half liberated.

Talking of short cuts the WHO AM I meditation is the shortest and the best meditation that will release you from bondage. There are two aspects of it.

- You sincerely ask yourself the question WHO AM I?

- Whenever any thought props up you ask another question, TO WHOM DOES THE THOUGHT ARISE? Then you return to the meditation.

The WHO AM I is not a mantra to be repeated. It is a question. You need to ask it deeply and sincerely being aware that you are questioning. There is no time and place of this practice. You can do it anytime. If you make a habit of doing this before you sleep you will wake up with that question. This is an indication that you were doing it in your sleep.

This process will end up dissolving your ego, the single most obstacle that is responsible for your suffering and the greatest impediment on the path to liberation

The one thing that can trouble you on this path is fear. The ego fears annihilation. Do not associate with this fear. It does not belong to you but your ego. Simply ignore it. Be steadfast with the practice.

There is another practice that will hasten your liberation. Think less. Do not think at all. Your thoughts are what makes up this world. Remaining in a thoughtless state will deal the most severe blow to the illusory world. It will slowly cease to trouble you. It is not that your actions will be affected. You will function even better than before because the force that propels you will be met with the least resistance.

Know that the world is a projection of your own mind and your thoughts determine its nature. If you constantly keep this in mind the world will lose its grip upon you.

Kaliyuga has many negative aspects. But it has a positive angle. In this age liberation is very easy. The Lord is merciful to the suffering multitude. Therefore it is to be attempted.

Liberation will help you realize your real identity. There is nothing in this world apart from the Supreme Consciousness. By annihilating your ego and realizing the true nature of this world you become that Supreme Consciousness. That is the real you.