Nuggets Of Wisdom

By Ramesh S. Balsekar

It is everyone's experience that the basis of daily living is facing life from moment to moment, necessarily accepting whatever the moment brings - sometimes pain, sometimes pleasure. The interconnected opposites of pain and pleasure, along with the opposites of every conceivable kind, beginning with male and female, form the very basis of life and living; and, therefore, it is impossible to separate one from the other. What the human being wants is one and not the other - pleasure and not the pain. And this pursuit of one as against the other is the main cause of why religion flourishes, various god-men flourish, promising the impossible and leading to frustration.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ramesh S. Balsekar
• Release date: Jun 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9789382788416

Ramesh S. Balsekar

Ramesh Balsekar, a teacher of pure Advaita, or non-duality, is an unearthly blend of the utterly human and utterly divine manifesting as a brilliant spiritual Master. His crystal-clear and profound teachings are backed by his complete understanding that “Nobody does anything” coupled with his life experience as a top executive of a major Indian bank, as a huband, father and grandfather – all lived knowing that it is all happening as God’s Will.For much of his full life Ramesh, whose Guru was Nisargadatta Maharaj, has been devoted to Ramana Maharshi, in whose spirit Ramesh welcomes seekers and asks “Who is seeking? Leave the seeking to Him who started the seeking.”

Book preview

Is there really a spiritual seeker?

What does a spiritual seeker seek? Enlightenment? What does he expect enlightenment to do for him for the rest of his life that he didn’t have before? If he gives some thought to this very basic question, he will come to the conclusion that what he expects ultimately is harmony in his relationship with the other and peace with himself.

And what does the ordinary human being want most in life - one who is reasonably comfortable in life and not below the poverty line?

A little thought will bring one to the conclusion that what every human being ultimately wants is also a harmonious relationship with the other and peace with himself.

Core Question:

How could I possibly have done such a stupidly shameful thing?

Answer:

You didn’t. It happened because it had to happen – together with the consequences – according to the Cosmic Law, your destiny.

Everything is a happening, for which no one is to blame or praise (because no one really exists.

Introduction

24 April 2004

My dear Ramesh,

Ten years ago on April 1994, I had profound opportunity of first meeting you.

A friend had given me the book Consciousness Speaks, and when she asked I would like to meet you, I jumped at the chance.

Although I was eager to meet you, I could not imagine what an amazing impact this meeting would have on my life.

We met in the morning and there was only you and myself. At some point, early in the conversation, I felt that my entire being broke open and out spilled tears of gratitude. It was not as I had experienced gratitude before, i.e. being grateful for something. But rather gratitude as I had never experienced it – as a fundamental ground of being. The tears kept flowing and at some point, it was time to conclude our meeting.

I left, really in an altered state. I had not gone two blocks when I sought out a telephone to call you and see if I could come back the next day.

As you may remember, I sought out opportunities to be at your morning talks whenever I was in India with my work.

The first several years after meeting you, I could not stop reading – and re-reading – and re-reading – and re-reading all of the books on Advaita. I loved it and love the teachings. It was the first and only time that I felt at one with an understanding.

Life during the past 10 years has been life – that is an expression of interlocking polarities of the universe. What’s transformed is that I am less involved and when involvement happens, it is of less duration.

I’ve stopped trying to make life work or turn out. A pursuit in which previously I was actively engaged.

Also, my relationship to time is completely altered. Before, in many ways, I was dominated by time – and the past and the future were more real that the present. There was also the experience of time moving from one moment to the next. Now there is only being in the present, more accurately being in no time. Although I can access the past and plan for the future.

As you have always taught, the words that are being used to describe the experiences are completely inadequate, but I hope they do point to what wants to be communicated.

My work hasn’t taken me to Mumbai for several years and if given the opportunity, I would always seek to come and pay my respects to you.

At the same time, the seeking has stopped. I only occasionally refer to the books – just for the joy of it. I see Wayne when I can, here in New York – again for the joy of it.

And you are always present for me – not as your form but as your essence. I finally understand what people meant when they said their relationship with their guru is closer than the breath they take.

There are times of great peace – when just being is so profound – nothing else is necessary.

And just like it was when I first met you – ten years ago – I find myself in writing this – filled with great love and profound gratitude. And yes – again – tears are flowing!

(Name withheld at the request of the writer)

Seeking peace of mind in living

In the core belief of the human being that peace of mind can come from adequate achievements in the external world. And we hang on to this belief in spite of whatever we may hear from the wise people. We are busy worrying about providing for the future, and being resentful about those who we believe have stood in our way. The result is that we have put ourselves in the ridiculous situation that our peace of mind is at the mercy of the ‘other’ and the external world.

The fact of the matter is that our peace of mind depends entirely on ourselves: How we react to a happening in the external world.

If I am hurt in any way – physical, psychological or financial – there are clearly two ways in which I can review this happening. One, I can believe that it is my Destiny – God’s Will or Cosmic Law – that I am to be hurt, and therefore, whether the happening that has hurt me has happened through one individual or the other, is really irrelevant. This view prevents me from hating anyone for my hurt, and absence of hatred for the other means peace of mind for me.

Everything changes if we view life as something in which everything is a happening, and not something done by anyone – neither me nor the other. Then, in our daily living, we must accept whatever the society decides about our actions, and the consequences. But one is free of any guilt or shame for one’s actions, and also free from any hatred and malice towards the other. This means inner peace and harmony ‘me’.

In the ultimate analysis, peace of mind means not going through life with bitterness, either towards oneself or towards the other. The freer we are of our judgments – towards both me and the other – the more at peace we are with ourselves and the more in harmony with the other.

‘Enlightenment’ is misconceived by many, as awareness of more subtle dimensions, more energy, more powers – in fact something beyond one’s everyday mundane perceptions. I am now of the clear understanding that enlightenment obviously means seeing the same samsara in a different perspective altogether: everything is a happening, and there is no individual doer of any deed.

What is the spiritual seeker seeking?

A spiritual seeker usually has no clear idea of what he is seeking. He may term it as self-realization or enlightenment. What he really has in mind is an experience of ecstasy, something on the lines of a photograph he might have seen of the sage Ramakrishna or a Sufi saint in ecstasy.

He does not realize that any experience is essentially temporary, time-bound – a few minutes or a few hours – and is not what the sage has really got out of his enlightenment. What the sage really has is a deep, ultimate understanding – with or without an experience.

What the understanding has brought him is a deep sense of peace within himself and a sense of harmony with the other, whether the other is a close relative or a total stranger. This is not a temporary experience but a lasting one, the very basis of his daily living.

It is very necessary for the spiritual to understand this fact clearly in order to avoid deep frustration after years of spiritual seeking.

~

During talk:

R: What will you give your family if you are in bliss/ ecstasy all the time?

Reply: Suffering. (And it has happened in the lives of Tukaram etc.)

Peace of mind and its outcome

Swami Nityananda of Vajreshwari has said: "Pour water in a vessel that is full, it will flow out. Similarly, while the seeker begins to think that he is being enlightened, he cannot wait to talk about it to others until he finds himself avoided by his friends. But when there is total understanding