“SELF- REALISATION”

It was preordained .The date and the time. The master had himself proclaimed the previous morning at assembly time. Today was Nirvana for Anand. All the years of toil and routines, discipline self-control and mastering the art of self denial was to finally culminate in a climax. It was something that Anand dreamt of since he was a child. No material pleasure could satiate him. Indulgence seemed to ignite a newer more profound desire which would finally lead to frustration and despair. As his hormones transformed his innocence into lust, the situation seemed to worsen. The more he tried to satiate the flames of passion the more they seemed to leap up with an all consuming threat. His mind was full of strife and he would spend hours on end late into the night wondering why was he born? What was the purpose of his life? This could go on no longer. Something had to be done.
That was when he happened to come across the writing of the master. Profound but simple, gentle but very direct. He felt that what he read served as balm to his embittered and restless mind. The master would definitely guide him to his destination.
So at the age of 16 he left home and proceeded to the world of asceticism.
The first few days of rituals and discipline were a bit hard to incorporate, but there was always the moral high ground that made these meaningless drills palatable.
The Master is a realized soul is what Anand seemed to conclude. Their first meeting was
Memorable, The Master asked him a few questions about his background. Then he wanted to know the purpose of Anands decision to get initiated into the Niraakar tribe.
To which Anand replied “To achieve self –Realisation”
The master had a smirk on his face which made Anand very skeptical. Maybe he did not have what it takes to get “moksha”. The Master then briefed Anand about the routine and also passingly remarked that Anand would take precisely 6 years and 8 months to get to his final goal. That was rather surprising thought Anand. What makes this person so sure about my commitment, my progress and my destiny?
But spiritualism begins where reason ends, so Anand nodded in acceptance to what the Master spake.
Thereafter not a word was mentioned about Moksha. Senior colleagues who graduated from the monastery post their ‘self realisation’were instructed not to bias any of the juniors with their experience of Moksha. and he was never seen again in the precincts of the Monastery.
Time did go by rather fast and very soon the day Anand was waiting for was just a few hours away. There was excitement brimming over in Anands mind. At last the moment of realization was round the corner.
At the crack of dawn, Anand woke up with a deep sense of anticipation..
He was robed in a warm, soft silk wrap as part of the protocol.
He was then led to the masters chamber, which had a soft fragrance and a certain stillness
which seemed to be a precursor of what was to follow.
Anand genuflected before the Master. The master was in some sort of a trance and seemed unaffected by Anands presence.
After a very disconcerting silence he signaled his disciple to be seated.
The anticipation was now at a crescendo.
The Master spoke-“ What have you come for today?”
“To seek self-realisation Master” , Anand replied.
But a state of wanting or desiring anything is not an attribute of a renunciate ?
“Yes Master.”
Then how will you get liberated when your mind is lustful for a state of mind?
But master –that is what was predicted by you and what I desired seemed very noble ,not sensual? So why do you call my mind lustful for desiring Moksha?
You identify Moksha as the mind set where there is no desire left but you desire that mind set. Is this not paradoxical?
This argument stumped Anand.
Then spoke the Master - Moksha is a state where there is no attachment. Desire springs from attachment. Your attachment to Moksha is the biggest hurdle you have to deal with. When you detach from Moksha you will be liberated.
But Master how can I detach from Moksha?
You cannot detach from it because there is no such state or thing as Moksha,.
But if there is no such thing as Moksha ,how can I get Moksha?
The Master seemed unperturbed. He replied-
“Your education begins from today .By ‘realization’ what is implied in this monastery is realization of your ignorance. The question you asked me just now will enlighten you about your ignorance. Tomorrow you will leave the monastery and proceed to the forest. You are now a realized soul, replete with the most profound knowledge- ‘The knowledge of your ignorance”



Dr. Deepak Ranade

(The writer is a consultant neurosurgeon.) Email: drdeepakranade@gmail.com

“PURPOSE OF CREATION”

The original undivided “pluri-potent being"; AMIGHTY; had the option of remaining un-manifest. Just being; in a state of awareness, bliss and joy.
Manifestation was one of the limitless options available to this source. When awareness needed to experience itself, a state of duality had to be induced. It needed to cleave itself and induce a pseudo-dichotomy of perceiver and perceived.
This process of auto- lyses is very similar to the process of a developing embryo. The single cell replicates itself rather rapidly and metamorphoses into this complex and differentiated multi-organ form of say, a human-being. So in reality we all are just one cell that has been able to differentiate itself into specified functional units. When I touch my hair it actually is the manifestation of a single cell touching another expression of it and the same cell also has the capability to comprehend this “touch” phenomenon.
All creation is an induced illusion of duality to enable the source to experience itself. Creation therefore was crystallization of the supreme source’s wish to experience him. The process of creation is in itself a very gratifying experience. All artistes on creating a work of art experience ecstasy, on giving birth to a new idea, new thought. The sheer joy of manifesting; in such diversity; may be the objective of this exercise, by the source.
He not only created multiple loci of consciousness, but also ensured that his creation was made oblivious, to the source of “its “origins. Time and space were introduced by the source as the illusory media to ensure the delusion of separateness of this ‘creation’. This being, was programmed with the ability to discover its origins as also provided the means to enjoy the rest of creation as well.
Since the being was just a manifestation of the source, he also had all the attributes of the source. The resolve and ability to achieve anything he desires, the capacity to experience total bliss, and above all the freedom to exercise any choice.
Selfless creation mandated that the being was given an illusion of being the ‘doer ‘
The self- effacement of the source was; may be a precondition for nourishing the identity of his creation.
This illusion of being the doer and the center of the universe manifests as ego.
This ego served initially, as a tool for self-preservation but as it crystallizes further it totally envelops the consciousness and serves as an impediment to realise its true nature.
The ego constantly reaffirms this illusory duality and the more the ego hardens, the further it moves the being away from the knowledge ,of his true identity. It then embarks on a game wherein the being gets an illusion of having control and the ability to manipulate the environment for its own happiness.
The awareness, when focused outwards gets entangled in this web of duality. Then there is no limit to its indulgence. This kaleidoscopic creation has a very potent arsenal to engage this awareness into its diverse forms. Indulgence has an addictive element to it, and it keeps drawing this awareness into its throes, and distancing itself from its true identity.
This obsession with the materialistic world is actually as ludicrous as my hand being obsessed with my nose! What a weird obsession indeed.
The drop of water in the ocean starts marveling at its own existence and identity and embarks on a journey armed with ignorance of its source. This divorce of the self from the knowledge of its true nature, leads to the entire spectrum of emotions. Ranging from a diverse gamut, the emotions are totally subject to the cognitive interpretation of the
Existential mirage. The ultimate objective is for the perceptive apparatus (consciousness) to be able to perceive itself. This could be attained by various means and paths.
This knowledge is already there within. The illusion is to look for it ‘without’. All other knowledge is duality based, and may at best help in providing analogies. However analogy is a very cheap substitute for experience. The purpose of creation was for the source to experience itself. Creation was like democracy. Made of the source, by the source, and for the source.
This self awareness or apperception; is self-realisation.

DR.DEEPAK RANADE.
(The author is a consultant Neurosurgeon, and may be contacted at deepakranade@hotmail.com)

THE GOD CENTER

The thought process is a continuous activity that is effected by the neuronal networks. These networks are developed as the process of myelination continues after the birth of the individual. The development of specific networks is what may be responsible for the conditioning that occurs. Belief systems, behavioral traits and even temperament are all effects of conditioning. Interestingly, there has been speculation of the existence of a God Center in the brain. Some have localized it in the ventro lateral part of the right frontal lobe, some in the temporal lobe whilst some have postulated that it exists in the ventro lateral mid-brain.
A researcher revealed that when a person was subjected to pain stimulus before and after being shown a Picture of a deity that he believed in, the tolerance to pain was significantly better after seeing a picture of the deity.
Speculation was rife that this increased pain tolerance was a consequence of conditioning. That implies that the outcome would have been similar if the subject was conditioned to believing in say even a picture of a Mountain as the object of devotion.
This brings us to the very basic issue of faith. Is religion or spiritualism just a matter of faith? A belief system that makes this arduous life more tolerable? Does it mean that whichever deity one believes in, the final locus of GOD in the brain remains the same?
Theoretically, then if this God center were to be stimulated, it should result in the subject experiencing all the feelings of calm, bliss and probably even ecstacy. This argument taken further would imply that all the spiritually advanced souls have over a period of time been able to devise an intrinsic mechanism to stimulate the GOD center. Occasional temporal lobe epileptics do record feelings of extreme bliss and serenity ,even getting very pleasant smells, hearing calming music as well. So, is divinity just a locus for a particular belief system ?And all spiritually advanced masters just people who by repeated practice develop this locus further? Probably and thereafter stimulate the specific locus at will?
That would reduce realization to within the ambit of a plain neurochemical phenomenon. It would then have some tangible parameters for either localization or verification.
Meditation could be just a process that converts all eccentric thought processes into a concentric pattern with the GOD center as the epicenter. All thoughts pertaining to mundane activities may be eccentric in nature. These eccentric patterns would be a deterrent to stimulating the God center. Most explanations given by Realised masters
seem to defy all logic, which is the domain of the dominant hemisphere. The non- dominant hemisphere is concerned with intuitive and non-analytical networks.
So maybe, that the God center resides in the non-dominant hemisphere and realization could effect a state of awareness that transcends the baseline neuronal activity of just being conscious. The advent of functional Imaging ( Functional MRI) may assist in the verification of such hypotheses. Probably, realization could then be imaged and anatomically localized. Happiness is most often cause based. It is a consequence of perceptive modalities giving a positive feedback via established neuronal circuits. Familiarity, sensory gratification, and above all a very tangible cause effect relationship permeates this sense of joy, or happiness. But, if happiness and joy ,bliss could be devoid of a cause, it may explain the detachment that most masters talk about. The happiness would then be independent of a cause and also stimulation of specific neural paths. It could become the background electro-chemical activity, where any external object is not cognized as a separate entity and analyzed and assigned relative values of joy or pain. This oneness or Advaita may for all we know be identified as the baseline firing of zeta neurons in a specified locus in the non-dominant hemisphere. It would result in a “perception shift” . It could also deconstruct this “I” entity, as having a discrete identity. The equivalent of dissolution of ego. There would be no subjective element to any sensory stimulus. Which is why many Masters seem to revert to a child like innocence. Maybe, then Godhood would be a neurochemical alteration in the mielieu of the neuronal networks. Resulting in a perceptive variance. And spiritual progress could be monitored by an imaging modality. And the quest for happiness may finally end up becoming a very internalised process. It would finally explain the intangible very tangibly.

(The author is a consultant Neurosurgeon and may be contacted at drdeepakranade@gmail.com)

Importance of control and restraint

The wheel was a path-breaking invention. The wheel, however, might not have been as useful if not for the invention of brakes and gears that help us control movement. The wheel made locomotion plausible but brakes regulated this motion. The defining quality of any system is probably based on the degree of control one can exercise on it. In karate, up to the black belt stage, the discipline and regimen is for strengthening the body and speeding up reflexes. Thereafter, all subsequent degrees are attained by perfecting self-control and restraint. In evolution, life forms have been empowered incrementally as they progress through stages. Human beings have the power of control, of temperance and restraint, and the ability to think beyond the self. Physiologically, higher centres in the brain have been given the responsibility of inhibition to maintain restrictive control on lower centres of the brain and spine. In spinal injuries, when the lower motor neurons are disconnected from the higher centres and they fire without control, it leads to reflex movements of the limbs, spasm of the muscles and so on. Though movement occurs, it is involuntary, uncontrolled and purposeless. The evolved brain can store large amounts of data. The data helps in generating a response transcending reflexive and programmed patterns. The ability to rise above reflex behaviour seems to be the summit of the evolutionary pyramid. Olympian Carl Lewis once explained the reason for his spectacular achievement: "I have mastered the art of self-denial". Behaviour that rises above the primitive reflexes forms the essence of culture and sophistication. All religions have a set of behavioural restrictions like fasting, celibacy and observing silence. These restrictions help the individual increase his will power, temperance, self-control and discipline. Some religions talk about renunciation. But renunciation eliminates choice. So it is probably indulgence in abstinence. The swing of the pendulum in the opposite direction charged with the potential energy to swing back to indulgence. It may also reflect a subconscious fear of lack of self-control. Like the instance of the guru, who was invited for a meal by his disciple. Whilst the other devotees were served on plantain leaves, the guru was served on silverware as a mark of reverence. The guru however was offended and walked off as he was a renunciate. He may as well have eaten in the silverware. If he was no longer in any mundane bondage, there ought to have been no distinction between silver and leaves. In reproductive behaviour, too, human beings have the freedom to choose. Any control is self-imposed. This self-control is the evolutionary upgrade. It is as if the remote control which operates all other animals has been substituted by a sharp discriminatory ability which bestows free will. In Hindu culture, it is called vivek buddhi. The intellect of discrimination. Free will reflects the ability to restrain rather than indulge. If indulgence was the purpose, all actions would have been reflexive, with scarce regard to volition. Exercising restraint requires a higher form of intelligence. Indulgence required neither skill nor intellect. And renunciation relied more on extremism. Ailments like obesity, alcoholism, hypertension and diabetes, when they are lifestyle-related, point to the diminishing self-regulatory process. Affluence has given man the opportunity to indulge like never before. Austerity is facing extinction. Patience, contentment are no longer virtues but are relegated to mere words. All catastrophes like global warming, nuclear threat and poverty are merely a reflection of our ever-increasing inclination for indulgence.

(The writer is a consultant neurosurgeon.) Email: drdeepakranade@gmail.com
5 Sep 2008, Times Of India,Speaking Tree

Learn the cause to know the effect

The process of learning programmes us to think in a specific manner. That every event or thing has a cause. Learning or knowledge is based on accurately interrelating cause with effect. Learning helps make the effect a predictable outcome based on our understanding of all the forces acting on the cause. The cause and effect thought process programmes our intellects unidimensionally. The paradigm works fine within a narrow spectrum only on the gross level. At the subatomic or subtle level, all the predictable physical laws become redundant. Reductionism, causality are incomplete tools of the human mind. Even in the Bhagavad Gita deliverance from all unhappiness is advocated by transcending the cause-effect algorithm. Indian philosophy has described this concept of noncausality as ‘ajati’. This concept is at the crossroads of the spiritualscientific divide. Singularity or advaita as described by seers stuns the intellectual process which is under the spell of the cause and effect pattern. The instant one veers from the path of cause and effect, the intellect is severely handicapped. Even scientific thought has now started inclining towards ‘experience’ rather than ‘experiment’ and the very quaint principles of quantum mechanics force one to abandon all rationality and reason. The Upanishads talk of “totality” , where even if one were to remove totality from totality, one would still be left with totality. This concept cannot be comprehended by the cause-effect principle. The mysticism shrouding spiritualism is because of the apparent disconnection from cause-effect . Science is a process of evolution of thought, whereas spiritualism is involution of thought. Physicists have been battling all along to come to a consensus Theory of Everything. The need for this theory is because the scientists are unanimous in accepting the discrepancy in laws governing the subtle and the gross. Spiritualism is getting to that elusive Theory of Everything without the mediation of the causeeffect hypothesis. The Theory of Everything is in essence singularity or advaita. Herein lies the experience that transcends causality. Where the observer, the observed and the act of observation merge into unison. The reductionism that science is obsessed with will finally culminate in the realisation that the elementary building block of all manifestation is just energy. That is what the String Theory seems to point to. What varies is the form or the perception of the form, not the content. Reductionism will reach a level where matter transforms into conscious energy, just as water becomes vapour. What has changed is the state, not the fundamental substance. This change of state from water to vapour is unidimensional. Manifestation is the ability of the source to virtually express itself multidimensionally . How can one therefore employ cause and effect to comprehend that singularity when both are mere projections of the same singularity? When we talk of virtual reality as in simulators or even cinema, is it not paradoxical that the intellect is aware of the illusory nature of the projection? At one end of the spectrum is pure awareness and the other end is also awareness which forces the senses to temporarily assign reality to the virtual image. Realisation is the process of moving from the awareness of virtual reality to pure awareness. Identification with this singularity will necessarily happen only by transcending the causeeffect protocol.
(The writer is a consultant neurosurgeon.) Email: drdeepakranade@gmail.com
23 Jun 2008, Times of India

Stages Of Knowledge For Becoming Aware

The brain is ever endeavouring to learn, comprehend, understand. It is being flooded with information that it processes at astonishing speed. Processing data implies prioritising the data and assigning meaning to it. Interpretation of data requires a highly developed intellect. Data is ubiquitous. Right from the radio waves emitted by celestial bodies from a few million light years away, to the feel of our clothing against our bodies, we are being bombarded by data. Intelligence is the skill and speed with which to scan incoming data, compare it with the existing database, discard the unimportant part and also store the useful new data for future reference. Apples fell even before Newton discovered gravity, but Newton processed the same data witnessed by others in a different way. He discovered a force which till then was not known. This realisation was abstract intelligence at a sublime level, where his conclusion was not a mere deduction, or just analysis. Analysis would be a synthesis or jugglery of already known facts but where the summation leads to a ‘greater than’ phenomenon - that is where awareness transcends intellect, analysis and reasoning. Science is essentially related to a spatio-temporal grid. It is seemingly restrained by the confines of cause and effect. Any theory has to be reinforced by experimental verification and then ratified by adding the attributes of repeatability and predictability, mediated by measurable parameters, which again are slaves of tangibles governed by the senses. Sense organs can navigate the intellect only within the ‘waters’ of the tangible. Once it touches the shores of the intangible the sense organs are powerless. The realms of the intangible may be delved into only by awareness, which is supra-sensory and out of the spatio-temporal Cartesian grid. The reason why this aspect of knowledge is termed as “realisation” is that realisation implies knowledge which is already there but which we are unaware of. The knowledge of the form shifts focus to awareness. Awareness is independent of subject-object bifurcation. Reasoning, deduction and investigation are meaningless tools which only obfuscate. The knowledge of the manifest is a stepping stone to enhancing awareness. By knowing what you are not, you get to know what you are. If you cannot fathom the manifest, then you cannot even dream of the unmanifest. The journey to realisation involves travelling over a diverse terrain. Each distinct terrain requires a commensurate vehicle. The vehicle of reason used to traverse the terra firma of tangibility needs to be abandoned when one has to take to the aerial journey of enhanced awareness. For this journey one has to travel very light, against the gravity of reason, logic and sensory perception into the realm of consciousness. The only navigation system being the guidance of the guru. Most perceive the guru to be in a particular form and person. But the guru is a tatva or principle. It could manifest in any form. It only requires the disciple to be in a state of conditioning before it reveals itself. Consciousness can be conditioned and adulterated by desires, vasanas. But awareness supersedes all and is the dwelling or source of the supreme being. This awareness is bliss, joy bereft of any duality, form and shape. In this state all derivatives of consciousness like space, time, form and appearance melt into just “I am”.

(The writer is a consultant neurosurgeon.) drdeepakranade@gmail.com

Learning to unlearn

Learning is as much a process of deprogramming as much as acquiring or acquainting with something new.
Learning something new, must be preceded by a process of deprogramming that eliminates pre-existing paradigms and misconceptions. Learning physiologically is a process of conditioning. It involves recruitment of neural networks or pathways, which after sufficient time and repetitions get established. Thereafter, conditioning works at a quasi involuntary level. A classic example is that of driving. Initially as a novice, every action is deliberate, premeditated and one has to very consciously focus on the activity. Later on as the reflexes get strengthened, the same activity becomes very effortless and gradually moves to a sub-conscious level. And soon we can engage in a conversation or even grab a bite whilst driving. Many of our belief systems and thought processes post conditioning work below the consciousness horizon. Once the template is set, these anagrams become an integral part of the individuals perceptive and thought processes. We scarcely realize that these deeply etched programs serve as major deterrents from learning anything new. That partly explains why adults need a longer while to learn a new skill like computers or a new language whereas kids seem to take to this new skill like a fish takes to water. That is because the kids hard disc is unformatted and can imbibe a new concept faster and better than an adult who first has to undo some hardwired programs. These established neural networks increase the resistance to accepting fresh thoughts and ideas. On deeper introspection we would realize, that most of our belief systems are just a legacy of our environment and upbringing. Religion, culture, behavioral patterns are a few such examples. This indoctrination happens subconsciously but has far reaching consequences.
Along with the passage of time, all such recorded programs spin a cocoon around the individual. Impermeable to newer thought process. All intolerance to new ideas is consequential to this rigid unyielding cocoon.
All revolutionary inventions have become possible only when the concerned person broke open this cocoon of conformist thought process. The person had to delearn conventional wisdom to make way for newer wisdom. Religion has always beckoned mankind along the ages. It still remains one of the most profound influences on our lives. Religion programs the thought processes and sooner than we realize, we align ourselves to one of the many ‘isms’. But the basis of all religion is to attain Godhood, or self-realisation or ‘swaroop saakshaatkar’ Various sects and religions have over the years programmed their followers along different lines. These regulatory protocols are ideally the means to the end but unfortunately have become the end themselves. The extreme obsession with form precludes any tryst with the formless. All spiritual pursuits are adulterated with preformed notions and are the scourge of liberation. It would be paradoxical to confine the omniscient omnipresent being to the narrow bandwidth of our perceptive focus . As a learned sage said, Liberation is not of the individual but from the individual. From the shackles of our thought processes. Self-realisation as a concept, is again a construct of our thought. But self-realisation transcends thought. Till there is thought, there is an entity that is thinking, and this separate entity that asserts its separateness is bondage. The finite can never perceive the infinite. It can only become infinite. And once that happens, who or what remains to perceive ?. It cannot be engineered, because all attempts made by the doer only underlines his separateness, which defeats the very purpose. Somewhat akin to the monkey, with its hand trapped in a cookie jar. Trying to get its hand out of the narrow neck of a bottle whilst holding the cookie. All efforts are in vain until the monkey releases the cookie and extricates its hand. This cookie of our belief systems and conditioning that we all hold on for dear life surely has to be relinquished. This delearning of all pre-existing programs and concepts is a precondition to self awareness.

Dr Deepak Ranade
(The author is a consultant Neurosurgeon and may be contacted at drdeepakranade@gmail.com)