Of Restless Agitation, Baul Music and Mysticism

There is a remarkable connection that the climate of the mind and the mountains possess. It takes moments for the weather to change from a bright sunny afternoon to heavy rains in the hills. The mind too tames a turbulent, unpredictable weather within. In moments of silence, it pulls you away from the material world, as if in search for something. The “something” remains elusive to most.

In the never-ending quest to discover this, I made a trivial effort to excavate the origins of the restless mind. This time I was treading the spiritual path and not the scientific one. I stumbled upon some of my favourite topics that deal with Mysticism. As wiki defines it – mysticism is the pursuit of communion with or conscious awareness of an ultimate reality, truth or even god. No wonder mysticism exists as an offshoot of almost all religions – Sufism being one of the most sought after approaches.

I wondered how mysticism which is such a well-documented and rigorous practice relates to common man. In a routine life, it’s fascinating how even the most accomplished souls feel the need to break all shackles and attain a different state of mind where there is a sense of unification with something or someone divine. As mysticism is practiced through various medium such as aphorisms, poetry, music, riddles and humour; people usually find one of these modes to attempt reaching the communion in daily life.

I was amazed to see how the very simple people of Bengal who practice the Baul sect connect to the divine. These are modest beings with just enough food to see them through the day. But the level of consciousness they have attained in their pursuit of seeking oneness could mesmerize you. Growing up, I was always intrigued by the simplicity of baul songs, the lyrics, the instruments used and the philosophy preached. Baul talks about connecting to “praner manush” or the man of the heart. The songs if heard carefully can lead to a state of trance. Once you enter the trance, a lot of the thirst that results from the restless mind is quenched.

I am convinced that no form of intoxication is needed to attain a higher state of consciousness. I can be high throughout the day, no matter what….

ZERO

The feeling of nothingness so intriguing
Transcending from deep dark thoughts
To the sound of melancholy
How the light within a clear mind
Gives way to darkness
Seeping in... engulfing the wits
Like the cold winds that blow off the flickering lantern

Closing your eyes you realize
Nothing that meets the eye is true
How delusional could you be?

Nothingness resides deep within
Disguising itself in half unmindful smiles
And lost expressive eyes
And the spirited greetings
A part of life it is…

It ain’t a shadow that follows me
Coz it won’t wane when the lights go off
Its hidden all around
Perhaps shy to reveal itself

But I trace the Zero in numbers
In objects, emotions and thoughts
Does it walk with me
Or I carry it along?
Or was it meant to be
...a part of them, you and me

Profound Realizations II: Life After Death...

Was counting my sins today, wondering if I’d be seated amidst clouds and playing the harp or getting boiled in sweltering hot oil. Although the difference between heaven and hell these days lies between delivering the project for a client on time and missing the deadline…One would wonder what happens once we are physiologically dead.

The silent observer believes in a certain theory as original as himself!!! Human soul is a mass of cosmic energy – the bond that unites the universe, its galaxies, the planets, human beings and every little molecule. The world and the million other fictitious or real worlds that exist within the universe act as non-stop production plants, producing Souls. All the stray energy (other than the ones acting on binding certain physical entities) is sucked into the wombs of mankind and animals continuously. Here is how the galactic shop floor works:

Energy from the tsunami, the volcanoes, other natural phenomenon and even the slightest traces of free energy get assembled in discrete packets. These packets structure themselves in the various layers of the atmosphere – let’s say between the Troposphere (being the closest to the earth surface) and the Thermosphere (which is over 90 km above the earth’s surface). The closer the packet to the earth’s surface, the more the probability of it being pulled into one of the embryos growing inside the wombs of expecting mothers. The soul then enters this embryo which was nothing more than a fertilized egg, giving it what we call Life.

But since the idea of the blog was to write about life after death, here it goes. As the embryo takes the shape of a little baby that gradually reaches adolescence and eventually old age, it makes several choices and executes numerous actions throughout its life. All the actions - physical, moral, psychological or emotional influence the energy within the soul. The impact of these actions on the energy is either positive or negative, thereby affecting the overall magnitude of the soul. As death approaches, the soul reaches its end-point magnitude of energy. Once physiologically dead, the energy is released back into the atmosphere. Based on its magnitude of positive energy, the soul moves up the atmosphere. The higher the energy level, the farther it travels away from the earth’s surface.

In short for all laymen like me, the more sins you commit, the lesser your soul travels away from the earth surface. This increases the chances of the soul being sucked back into the painful cycle of life again. The more the good deeds, the higher the soul travels allowing it to achieve Nirvana or Mokshya. So start doing something good today…Begin with nice encouraging comments for the blog!