Section A – The masters I did not meet physically but I have met them “essentially”

1. Jiddu Krishnamurti (JK)

Before I write anything about JK, I am reminded of the Zen saying “The word water will not quench your thirst and the word fire will not burn your mouth”. This is sums up the essence of JK’s teaching as he often said that word is not the object. All words are the fingers pointing to the moon but all of it is futile if the observer in you does not observe it for himself or herself.  As Osho once remarked about JK, that he is the ultimate example of Buddha’s last words that is to “be light unto yourselves”

JK’s teachings were unique as he tried not rely on traditions or past Buddha’s to pass his message. His emphasis was always on a seeing the eternity with your own experience and thus negated a lot of concepts that has made the society so conditioned and robotic Not just his teachings, looking at him so humbly and so delicately siting on a chair while giving a lecture is like a Mandala that stays with me for a long time.

While, I have been hearing and reading him since 2 decades, while I read him through my intellect for the first 15 years, but after I started meditation his teachings began to echo in my being. If any of you have been influenced by JK, then first go deeper into meditation and then the teachings of JK will automatically go much more deeper into you.

I am reminded of the famous quote of JK, “Observer is the observed” and this is nothing but a deep state of being or a deep state of meditation. A state in which the flow of thoughts has ceded and you just become an observer firmly rooted in your own self. And in the deep satori or Samadhi even the experiencer drops off as it has happened with me on few occasions.

Sitting in a lotus position can be a meditation but it can also just be an imitation. You can be the best judge for when your thoughts really slow down, then you are truly in meditation.

Thank you Jiddu Krishnamurti for the hand you lent in my pottery.

 2. Osho

The name Osho evokes two sentiments, one of tremendous awe and the other of utter derision. He was controversial and it is an irony that he his name creates a duality of sentiments for all his life his mission was to help a man overcome this duality via meditation. I am not an Osho’s advocate and more importantly, Osho does not need one despite all the controversies.

I have learnt a lot from Osho after having read more than 50 of his books and perhaps having heard hundreds of his lectures. His sheer knowledge and variety of anecdotes from all fields of life made reading Osho a wholesome experience. But reading and listening is often restricted to the realm of the minds. While it does give intellect a good idea of the scope of spirituality but in endgame reading alone is not enough. The greatest respect I have for Osho is because I started my meditation with active meditation methods of Osho and I could get my breakthrough with his methods. The one that worked like a charm for me was his Kundalini Meditation. There were several others that inspired and readers can know more about his meditations by reaching out to Osho International website or centers across the world His methods are made for a modern man and understands the current turmoil that a modern man faces. His active methods use the principle of how Yin and Yang move from one side to another on an ongoing basis. His active methods work like pendulum that first goes totally towards the activity and after which it gradually moves to the other extreme which is stillness and inactivity.

Controversies or no controversies, his methods are the easiest for a modern man to find a breakthrough in mindfulness and meditation.

It is bad manners to wake people when they are sleeping. In a same way when the right time for spiritual awakening comes, life will be the first to wake you up – Guru Sarvananda

I quoted above to emphasize one point that I don’t want to change your prejudices about Osho, but I request you to read it for yourself so you may get a correct perspective of his works. Even if you do not read is fine, but do try his meditations.

Thank you Osho for the hand you lent in my pottery.

3.Ramana Maharishi, Nisarsgadutta Maharaj and H.W.L Poonja

Of all the masters that I have followed, these 3 have a unique thing in common and hence I am the naming these three together. This trio points to reality in the most direct manner and in the least number of words. They narrow it down so much that understanding and self-inquiry becomes easy. But ironically few beginners may find this direct pointing to truth too hard to grasp (We live in a world of excess talk, hence silence takes time to penetrate). However, if we spend some time meditating and reach deep state of beings, then their crisp answers will solve the jigsaw puzzle.

All the 3 masters also have Vedanta philosophy as the root of their wisdom.

Thank you Ramana Maharishi, Nisargadatta Maharaj and Poonja Ji for the hands you have lent in my pottery.

Sorry, I wrote one full paragraph on you, the only right way to honor you all was to keep it blank. But then I realized, blank or written is one and the same thing.

4.George Gurdjieff

After I started meditating regularly, I got my first major breakthrough in 3 months and by the time I finished my sixth month, I had tasted the state of no mind. The taste of no mind is an important milestone in the journey as it validates all that you have read and after that point, you are not chugging along on faith or hearsay but now you have commenced an experiential journey As a matter of coincidence, I started reading George Gurdjieff when I had just tasted the state of no mind. It was just a very fortunate timing that I had just set up a small fire and teachings of Gurdjieff became the oil that I needed to grow the fire into a bigger light of consciousness George Gurdjieff’s system was a fusion of various traditions but at the core of its heart, it was a method of friction that would help in breaking down the old structures in a man. Gurdjieff’s firm understanding was that a man has become a machine due to its mechanical living habits and a journey to becoming a man again needed rigorous de-automation and understanding of its structural problems.

George Gurdjieff’s methods are called the Fourth way does not require running away from the worldly life but it provided various techniques where a man can try and work upon himself in regular course of life. Like Gurdjieff says in the book “In search of excellence by P.D. Ouspensky” that a man can do a work on himself (which is the positive force) but there are various inner negativities that cancel out the positive work or even if it does not cancel out completely, the delta of positive minus negative is too small to make a difference. If at this point, a man can get hold of some new methods to uplift consciousness then these new methods along with that positive force can create transcendental effect and a man can change totally. In my case while my meditation was flourishing, Gurdjieff and his methods became the force multiplier for me.

Thank you George Gurdjieff for the hand you lent in my pottery.

5. Lao Tzu 

My own path has been a path of meditation or in other words a method to understand the mind and hence transcend it. Anything we understand with a deep wisdom we end up transcended it. We know that fire burns and hence we always take precaution not to get burnt. Likewise, if we are standing on the 17^th floor balcony, we take extra care as we know that Gravity pulls you down. By understanding the nature of fire and gravity, we get rid of the harmful effect. Same applies to mind and life in general. Understanding the nature of things is one of the important part of Taoist system.

Lao Tzu’s concept of Tao or the way reduces the sacred into a set of laws. The laws do not work as per our whims but as nature of things. The moment we align ourselves to the law, we are in a good space that is free from duality. Lao Tzu’s watercourse method is a momentous effort and if a seeker truly understands the wisdom contained in it will cease to offer resistance to whatever happens around us When we cease to resist, it leads to a devotion that comes from within and it is not a conditioned product acquired from outside. Lao Tzu helped me let go of myself and hence become aligned with whatever happens. On the circumference (in our material world) there could be a lot of paddling and lot of efforts but at the center, one is free from all doings and non-doings Lao Tzu showed me the way and I went slanting down like water looking for looking for the lowest spot. The moment you flow without resistance to the lowest spot, you are aided by divine. Then everything happens effortlessly or as Lao Tzu calls it “Wu wei”

6. Zen Master Seung Sahn

In one of my work visits to Hong Kong, I had few spare days for site seeing and I decided to look up for some monasteries in Hong Kong. While doing the search, I came across Su Bong Monastery website and that opened a door to some of the anecdotes of Zen Master Seung Sahn. One of them caught my attention and had a transformative effect on me. This led to reading couple of his books and since I had already witnessed deep states of beings during my meditation prior to reading his books. The works of Zen master Seung Sahn then just paved a pathway to enhance my experiential wisdom in the months to follow

Thea anecdote (taken from one of the Q&A letters) that had a tremendous impact on me is reproduced below:

What is Primary Point?

By Zen Master Seung Sahn

I often talk about primary point. What is primary point? When you have a scale and there is nothing being weighed, the indicator points to zero. You put something on it, and the pointer swings to “one pound.” You take it off, the pointer goes back to zero. This is primary point. After you find your primary point, then good feelings come, bad feelings come, so your pointer swings in one direction or the other. But this doesn’t matter. Don’t check it. When the feeling is over with, the pointer swings back to zero.

But if you haven’t found your primary point, then it is like taking a heavy object off of the scale and having the pointer stay at “ten pounds.” Or the pointer moves back only part-way, it doesn’t go completely back to zero. Then you have a problem. Your scale does not weigh correctly. Maybe if you put a heavy object on it, it will break completely. So first you must find your primary point. Then you must keep it very strongly.

A taxi has weak shock absorbers, so it hits a small bump and bounces up and down. A train has strong shock absorbers, so it is very steady. If you keep your primary point, your mind-spring will become stronger and stronger. You will meet big problems and your mind will move less and less. A big problem comes, your mind moves, but soon returns to primary point. Finally, your mind will be very strong; it will be able to carry any load. Then saving all people is possible.

While I had read about Zen earlier too but two books of Zen Master Seung Sahn namely “Only Don’t Know” and “Dropping the Ashes on the Buddha” became like a beacon of light on my journey with Zen. Aided by meditation, the Zen wisdom blossomed in my being.

Then I read a lot of Zen Masters like Dogen, Bankei, Ryokan, Rinzai, Ikkyu and Hui Neng to name a few. All these masters helped me enhance my Zen practice, however my Zen practice was built on Zen Master’s Seung Sahn foundation.

Su Bong Monastery (in Hong Kong) is a member’s only monastery that operates out of a unit inside a building and not a typical monastery where visitors can visit for Zen practice. But the website contains important insights and can be visited at www.subong.org.hk