Teaching

Do you really know what you want most in life? Even if you have all the success, fame and money you want, and the good health to enjoy it – are you happy and fulfilled? Why is it that we all find ourselves seeking something more from life – all the time? Ramesh pointed out that each one of us, at some time or the other, has a taste of what that is: an uninterrupted experience of peace and harmony. He showed the way to this constant repose in our ordinary, hectic, daily living. This is what the seeking – most evidently, the spiritual seeking – is all about.

A simple examination of one's personal experience will reveal that what usually disrupts the peace and harmony in life is a thought about something we think we – or someone else – should or shouldn't have done. Hence, a massive load of guilt and shame for oneself, or hatred and malice for the other, is perpetuated. Without a lot of arduous effort – work, discipline, sacrifice, sadhana – without outside assistance, but simply by investigating one's own experience, it is possible to get relief from this bondage. What mystics have said for ages, is viewed from the perspective of modern living: that actions are 'happenings' and not something done by someone. This understanding is what actually contributes to and helps us in discovering the state of equanimity and peace which we most ardently seek.

"What is the Ultimate Understanding?" Ramesh would ask, and answered it by saying, "That there is no one to understand anything." He emphasized that everything he said was a concept and, moreover, it did not matter whether the concept was accepted or not. "Whether the acceptance happens or not is the Will of God, and the destiny of the individual concerned." According to Ramesh, many spiritual Masters instruct their disciples to "kill the ego" which results in a lot of confusion. In striking contrast, the point of his teaching was that it 'converts' the ego. With this teaching it can be observed, from one's own personal experience, the simple truth as enunciated by the Buddha that "Events happen, deeds are done, but there is no individual doer thereof."

Ramesh further pointed out that the main confusion arose with the question, "Who seeks what? What is the ego and what is the ego seeking?" The ego wants self-realization and the ego can only be satisfied with something that can be understood and appreciated in this life. Self-realization is simply the realization by the ego that the ego itself is not a separate doer, that the doing is merely a happening through a human mechanism or instrument. This understanding annihilates the guilt and shame, pride and arrogance that accompany the sense of personal doership. The result is an enormous sense of freedom, of peace and harmony.

The teachings that emanated from Ramesh are pure Advaita: 'Consciousness is all there is'. The impact of the teachings is fuelled with the force of his 'Total Understanding'. From his own life experiences, Ramesh made the teachings relevant - for the here and now.

From: www.rameshbalsekar.com