What is enlightenment? Are you not enlightened?

I was asked a question "What is enlightenment, what is this abstract thing you seem to be striving for and are you not already enlightened?"

U.G. Krishnamurti might say that everyone is already enlightened and the only thing if at all blocking us from it is our yearning for it.
There are other schools of buddhism that claim that once one attains enlightenment one sees that everyone in the world is already enlightened.

I of course had my own answer for that ->

I am the most unenlightened person I know…I got angry at a guy blocking my way to the bike park today…if you sent me a message right now saying that I am an idiot I would probably be disturbed for the next 2 hour.

Enlightenment has many different levels as mentioned in the textbooks of Yoga schools…the state of turiya being the final state…buddhism has so much literature describing different levels of enlightenment…

There are 32 physical characteristics that appear on a enlightened person and if you go into the forest of Rishikesh today you will, if you are extremely lucky, meet few masters who are almost enlightened and have few of these physical characteristics…apart from physical characteristics there are so many other qualities as well for example it is natural for certain sidhis (supernatural powers) to come to an enlightened person, they can never die in an accident, even J Krishnamurthy had this sidhi…it would be impossible for them to have a negative thought towards anyone since a jnani sees all the time the unity of the world and knows that there is no other person to get angry at…an enlightened person would know exactly when he or she is going to die or when anyone is going to die, all enlightened masters communicate to each other through their subtle body and have complete knowledge of everything that is happening anywhere in the world…in fact most of these sidhis come much before enlightenment thats why we have people like Jaggi Vasudev who calls himself Sadhguru and an enlightened master but he is just a charlatan who has learnt to tap into these sidhis…the list of sidhis is endless, you just need to go to wikipedia and read up about some rishis who have lived in banaras in the last 200 years (since there would be very little record of saints living there prior to that).

Again not all schools are capable of taking the practitioner to full enlightenment…there are practices that can only take you to dev lokas from where you might have to return to the human realms eventually and then there are practices that can take you to brahma lokas where you can live in complete bliss without any body, in a state of pure mind till the end of the brahmand…but even these godly beings and beings in the brahmanic realms will die when the brahmand comes to an end…this is also mentioned in the books of most Yoga schools, that the brahmand itself is impermanent and brahma himself dies in the end and then a new brahmand will come into existence and new brahma will come into existence…but ultimate enlightenment is when the person disappears altogether i.e. not just get stuck in dev loka or brahma loka since even in these lokas one cannot escape the misery of death…that is the very core of indian philosophy, they all talk about how through practise one can free oneself from the endless cycle of samsara. Description of these lokas can be found here.

Me personally I am such an idiot that if I die today I will go into lower realms because I have negative thoughts, not very extreme like I don't want to kill anyone but simple one's like someone was disrespectful to me at some point and I would not want to say Hi to them if I saw them walking on the street…so personally i am not even searching for enlightenment…all i am trying is to make my spiritual practise strong enough so that at the moment of my death I fall into my spiritual practise and that will at least ensure I will return as a human and can continue my spiritual journey.

If at the moment of your death a person has even a slightest negative thought then it can take them to lower realms as mentioned here.

Pamper yourself and get a spiritual experience

What can be better than that, you can totally pamper yourself in the nicest comfortable environment and also at the same time get a spiritual experience that might change your life.
The 4 things these guys do in what one could call a boutique ashram in a the most hitech city of India run by a trance DJ -

- Chakra analysis through some Kirlian photography or something similar
- Mantra meditation using some strong bija mantra it looks like
- Lucia Lamp
- Floatation tank to have a final chill of the experience

Worth a visit for anyone in Bangalore i guess.
I am especially intrigued by this Lucia lamp about which i heard for the first time from this video. Hope to try it sometime soon.

Cutest swami

This is a photograph of Trailanga Swami from Banaras - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailanga

The moment I looked at it I was so captivated by the photograph, I just want to hug this guy, he looks like the cutest most adorable round person...so full of innocence joy and wisdom.

Below are few snippets from his wikipedia page.

Trailanga Swami (also Tailang Swami, Telang Swami) (reportedly^{[nb 1]} 1607^[2]–1887^[2][3]) was a Hindu yogi and mystic famed for his spiritual powers who lived in Varanasi, India.^[2] He is a legendary figure in Bengal, with stories told of his yogic powers and longevity. According to some accounts, Trailanga Swami lived to be 280 years old,^[2][4] residing at Varanasi between 1737 and 1887.^[3] He is regarded by devotees as an incarnation of Shiva. Sri Ramakrishna referred to him as "The walking Shiva of Varanasi"

Fun and Miraculous facts

• He was the reincarnation of his own Grandfather.
• He was often found roaming the streets or the ghats of Banaras, naked and "carefree as a child".
• He was reportedly seen swimming or floating on the river Ganges for hours.
• He was reputed to have lived to be around 300 years, and was a larger-than-life figure, reportedly weighing over 300 pounds (140 kg), though he seldom ate. One account said that he could "read people’s minds like books."
• According to another story, he often walked around without any clothes, much like the nanga (or "sky-clad", naked ) sadhus. The Varanasi police were scandalised by his behaviour, and had him locked in a jail cell. He was soon seen on the prison roof, in all his "sky-clad" glory. The police put him back into his locked cell, only to see him appear again on the jail roof. They soon gave up, and let him again walk the streets of Varanasi.
• Thousands of people reportedly saw him levitating in a sitting position on the surface of the river Ganges for days at a time. He would also apparently disappear under the waves for long periods, and reappear unharmed.

Kali Sadhana

Upon the initiation of a Kali mantra from his mother, Sivarama carried out Kali sadhana in the nearby Kali temple and Punya Kshetras, but was never far away from his mother. In 1669 his mother died. After her death, he saved her ashes (chita bhasma). He would wear her ashes and continue his Kali sadhana day and night (teevra sadhana). During that time, Sivarama lived the life of a recluse in a cottage, built by his half-brother, near a cremation ground. After 20 years of spiritual practice (sadhana), he met his preceptor swami, Bhagirathananda Saraswati, in 1679 from the Punjab. Bhagirathananda initiated Shivaram into monastic vows (sannyasa) and named him Swami Ganapati Saraswati in 1685. Ganapati reportedly led a life of severe austerities and went on a pilgrimage, reaching Prayag in 1733, before finally settling in Varanasi in 1737.

Ramakrishna's comment

After seeing Trailanga, Ramakrishna said, "I saw that the universal Lord Himself was using his body as a vehicle for manifestation. He was in an exalted state of knowledge. There was no body-consciousness in him. Sand there became so hot in the sun that no one could set foot on it. But he lay comfortably on it."

Sivananda's comment

Sivananda attributed some of his miracles to the siddhi or yogic power Bhutajaya — conquest over the five elements, "Fire will not burn such a Yogi. Water will not drown him."

Teachings

His teachings are still extant and available in a biography by Umacharan Mukhopadhyay, one of his disciples. He described bondage as "attachment to the world" and liberation as "renunciation of the world and absorption in God."^[18] He further said that after attaining the state of desirelessness, "this world is transformed into heaven" and one can be liberated from samsara (the Hindu belief that life is a cycle of birth and death) through "spiritual knowledge". He remarks that attachment to the "evanescent" world is "our chronic disease" and the medicine is "detachment".^[18]

He described man's senses as his enemy and his controlled senses as his friend. His description of a poor person as one who is "very greedy" and regarded one who always remains content as rich.^[18] He said that the greatest place of pilgrimage is "Our own pure mind" and instructs to follow the "Vedantic truth from the Guru." He described a sadhu as one who is free from attachment and delusion.^[18] One who has transcended the egoself.

Importance of always being positive

There was a very close female student of Buddha, when she died someone asked Buddha weather she went to the higher realms or lower realms, Buddha replied after a month that she was in the higher realms...Ananda asked him later what took you a month to reply, he told ananda when she had died she had one negative feeling towards her husband for being unreasonable at one point of time...that took her to lower realms for a month that's why he waited for a month to reply.
Someone told me this story to explain how important the contents of our mind is...whatever is in our mind similar vibrations will be attracted towards us...that is why it is so important to keep our mind free of negativities because our mind creates our world and so it will create our world based on what we feed into it...
Through our practise and observation of the nature of our mind we have to reach a state where it would be impossible for negativity to enter our mind no matter what the situation...
When one becomes aware of the power of our mind we automatically for our own good work to reach such a state...

U.G. Krishnamurti

U.G. Krishnamurti has to be one of the most interesting person in the last century. Below are some snippets from his wikipedia page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U._G._Krishnamurti

Uppaluri Gopala Krishnamurti (9 July 1918 – 22 March 2007), known as U. G. Krishnamurti, was an Indian speaker who questioned the state of enlightenment. Although many considered him an "enlightened" person, Krishnamurti often referred to his state of being as the "natural state". He claimed that the demand for enlightenment was the only thing standing in the way of enlightenment itself, if enlightenment existed at all.

He rejected the very basis of thought and in doing so negated all systems of thought and knowledge. Hence he explained his assertions were experiential and not speculative – "Tell them that there is nothing to understand."

Reversed Aging

In the introduction to Mind Is a Myth: Disquieting Conversations with the Man Called U.G., editor Terry Newland states that at age 35, Krishnamurti started getting headaches and appearing younger, rather than older. According to that account, by the time of his 49th birthday, he appeared to be 17 or 18 years old, while after the calamity he started aging normally again, but continued to look far younger than his years.

Ramana Maharishi

In 1939, at age 21, Krishnamurti met with renowned spiritual teacher Ramana Maharshi. Krishnamurti related that he asked Ramana, "This thing called moksha, can you give it to me?" – to which Ramana Maharshi purportedly replied, "I can give it, but can you take it?". This answer completely altered Krishnamurti's perceptions of the "spiritual path" and its practitioners, and he never again sought the counsel of "those religious people". Later, Krishnamurti would say that Maharshi's answer – which he perceived as "arrogant" – put him "back on track".

Health

Krishnamurti was known for his unusual health and diet preferences.^[17] Carrying with him a "portable kitchen" in a tiny suitcase throughout his travels, he consumed a great deal of salt and cream, and stated "no meal should take longer than a few minutes to prepare." Throughout his life, Krishnamurti never saw a doctor or took medication, believing the body would take care of itself. Often complimented for good looks in his old age, Krishnamurti would respond "that's because I don't eat healthy food, I don't take vitamins, and I don't exercise!"

Nature of Mind

Krishnamurti denied the existence of an individual mind. However, he accepted the concept of a world mind, which according to him contained the accumulation of the totality of man's knowledge and experience.^[23] He also used "thought sphere" (atmosphere of thoughts) synonymously with the term "world mind". He stated that human beings inhabit this thought realm or thought sphere and that the human brain acts like an antenna, picking and choosing thoughts according to its needs.^[24]Krishnamurti held all human experience to be the result of this process of thought. The self-consciousness or "I" in human beings is born out of the need to give oneself continuity through the constant utilisation of thought.^[5] When this continuity is broken, even for a split second, its hold on the body is broken and the body falls into its natural rhythm. Thought also falls into its natural place – then it can no longer interfere or influence the working of the human body. In the absence of any continuity, the arising thoughts combust.

In its natural state, the senses of the body take on independent existences (uncoordinated by any "inner self") and the ductless glands (that correspond to the locations of the Hindu chakras) become reactivated. Krishnamurti described how it is the pineal gland, or the Ajna Chakra, that takes over the functioning of the body in the natural state, as opposed to thought.

Funniest sections of the page

"The so called self-realization is the discovery for yourself and by yourself that there is no self to discover. That will be a very shocking thing because it's going to blast every nerve, every cell, even the cells in the marrow of your bones."

Nagaraj who was sitting quietly all this time said, "U.G., what exactly are you trying to put across?" U.G. replied, "Depends on you, not on me. This you don't seem to understand. You are the only medium through which I can express myself." 

Unsanity

I am not anti-rational, just unrational. You may infer a rational meaning in what I say or do, but it is your doing, not mine.

Teachings

I have no teaching. There is nothing to preserve. Teaching implies something that can be used to bring about change. Sorry, there is no teaching here, just disjointed, disconnected sentences. What is there is only your interpretation, nothing else. For this reason there is not now nor will there ever be any kind of copyright for whatever I am saying. I have no claims.

Importance of reading for someone on the Path of Self Discovery

In a retreat people meditate up to 17 hours a day, living on very little food, especially meditating from midnight to morning 6...in such an environment one can make the mind very subtle...that's the kind of hard work one needs to put...but hard work alone is not enough...when sitting with closed eyes one needs to have the right attitude of and right way of observation...thats why there are people meditating since 30 years and still stuck in negativities while there are 30 year old practitioners who are glowing with compassion and love.
It is in that context one needs to read books in trying to understand the right way to observe the self...also meditation has to become ones first nature not second nature, i.e. to say one needs to internalise the attitude of looking not just while sitting but at all times, and in that regard again one needs to understand how to look, what is attention and what is awareness and what is this ever changing reality we experience in waking state and dream state.

While Osho might still be after 35 years of his death one of the best-selling authors in India and across the world the 2 authors not to be missed by any serious meditator are

• J Krishnamurthy
• Nisargadatta Maharaj

But for advance practitioners the study of the teachings of Buddha is indispensable. After all Buddha was the most intelligent spiritual teacher ever...that is the very definition of Buddha, he and his teachings can never be surpassed unless of course the arrival of the next Buddha. 

Commercial food industry

In the film 'Salo Or The 120 Days Of Sodom' which has a reputation of being the sickest film of all times, Pasolini shows teenagers being forced to eat human shit. Some people interpret this scene as a representation of our society making us eat mass produced food which is pretty much shit food when compared to pre-industrial era where the food was locally grown and sourced and made in domestic or communal kitchens.
Even in the Salman Rushdie novel 'Moors last sigh' he talks about how the mother feeds different emotions to her daughters through the food, hence suggesting the intention that the cook puts into the food does effect the person eating it.
While we all cannot afford to live on farms and grow our own food the one thing we can do is avoid restaurants.
The food that is served in restaurants is made by people who are working for money...they fill the food with their craving for money...after eating that food it is natural that the customer also feels such cravings in life...or the cook might be angry and have aversion towards his job and his boss then the customer eats it and it is natural for the customer to feel angry and have aversions...instead when the food is made with the volition of kindness and love at home or in a communal kitchen then after eating we will also feel the positive emotions and energy fed into the food instead of cravings and aversions.
So meditators or anyone who is health conscious should not eat outside food or rather will not be able to eat outside food once they develop the sensitivity of the effect the food is having on them.

Is there an eternal soul?

Chapter 5 of I am That  by Nisargadatta Maharaj addresses this question

Questioner: Is the witness-consciousness permanent or not?

Maharaj: It is not permanent. The knower rises and sets with the known. That in which both the knower and the known arise and set, is beyond time. The words permanent or eternal do not apply.