A Marvel-Producing Habit

It's clear that we function primarily in one of two modes. Either we're on-the-go, preoccupied with all the things we have to do. This is what I call occupied consciousness - being caught up with all the details of the here and now, the past and the future. The opposite is sleeping consciousness. That's our downtime where we basically recover and refuel. 

Clear enough. 

What I've recognized during the years is the phenomenon of coming to a standstill, what I call awake consciousness - neither preoccupied nor sleeping. It's been known to man since time immemorial. What makes it so extraordinary is how rarely we actually find ourselves in that mode - to just stop and let the flow of life come to a halt. To step out of time and space as we know it. To allow ourselves to be quiet, awake and receptive to the bigger picture. For most of us awake consciousness is a rare experience, basically life has to force us to stop and think, due to a loss, tragedy, or change... It's an art to get into that space by choice.

Let me share an experience from the other day. As I took about ten minutes break from my busy life a couple of profound considerations arose in my consciousness, substantial, singular and paced. 

An awareness weighted on me, that at this moment I don't know anything about my true identity. In this present embodiment I'm designated as a male, my name is Ramtin, I'm born in Iran, live in Stockholm, my mother is Mahnaz, my father Manuchehr, I'm 30 year old, have dark hair, brown eyes and am about 5FT7 in height. But that's not me. Here I am, thinking-running-interacting and I don't even know my gender, I don't remember my name, who's my mother and father, where I live, what I do.


It's odd.

While I was in that quiet, clear, contemplative space, gazing at a painting of the Divine Couple on the wall, another wave of consciousness took center-stage, "This is Srimati Radharani. She's alive at this very moment, in the divine land of Vrindavana. And here is the son of Nanda. We have a bond. Sri Radha knows who I am. And so does Krishna. My existence registers in Their minds. And this Divine Couple love me, and They want me back."

Why, then, am I out of touch?

If I'm given a billion dollars but throw it away in the trash I might later get my sense back and go back for the money. To my good fortune the donor wants me to have the billion dollars, but after how I handled the gift last time he wants to see that this time I really understand the value of what's being given to me. This is an image of what's at stake here spiritually. The Divine connection is a given, it's an irrevocable, intrinsic, integral part of what we are. Radha and Krishna are really, really, REALLY eager to have us back. The "billion dollars" will be given. The "donor" wants us to have it, BUT He wants to see that we realize the value of our divine birthright.

The trust has to be earned.

Emotional Balance

”Absorption in Me through intelligence constitutes equanimity (emotional balance).”

śamaḥ mat-niṣţhatā buddheḥ 

(Bhāgavata Purāņa 11.19.36)

Consider the luminaries in the sky – the moon, the sun, the stars. When they are reflected in liquids like water they appear to be of different shapes - sometimes round, sometimes long, sometimes unsteady and shaky - all due to the movements of the wind. Similarly when we, the dazzling self of pure consciousness, are focused and preoccupied with the emotional alterations of the mind we feel carried away by its ups and downs, while in fact we stand ever unaffected and steady in our true essence. If we don't have a superior engagement, a higher grounding, we get dragged into the inner turmoil and lose our equilibrium. To become aloof to this neverending rise and fall requires spiritual absorption. When we abide in the Supreme, the divine presence, we are able to experience any emotion without getting lost in it.

Spiritual Breakthrough

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

What a magical setting, chanted Gayatri to the dawning light of the sun, on the serene bank of the Yamuna in the blessed land of Radha. It was the first day of Kartika. I had come with the hope to seek a spiritual experience. What I found by the end of the month was not what I had expected... but all I actually needed.

In February of 2011 I gave a talk in Zagreb on the keys to approaching the threshold of spiritual breakthrough in our lives, based on the lessons I had learnt from my time in Vrindavana. The following is a recording of that presentation.