I Am Not My Senses

Exploring the Five Elements: A Path to Self-Discovery

Hello friends! Welcome back to my blog. As we continue our journey of understanding 'Who Am I' , with our neti neti method, today we will explore the five elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Space. Each element connects to our five senses and helps us discover more about ourselves.

Earth: Grounding and Stability (Sense of Touch)

Earth symbolizes stability and physicality, relating to our sense of touch. When we feel the ground beneath us or touch a flower we can ask "What grounds me?" This element helps us reflect on our roots and what truly defines us beyond external influences.

Water: Emotions and Intuition (Sense of Taste)

Water represents fluidity and emotion, connected to our sense of taste. Engaging with water, whether drinking it or swimming, invites us to consider "What nourishes my soul?" It encourages us to explore our feelings and desires, guiding us toward self-acceptance.

Air: Thoughts and Communication (Sense of Smell)

Air embodies breath and intellect, linked to our sense of smell. As we breathe in fresh air or notice different scents, we can think about how we express ourselves. Ask "What thoughts uplift me?" This element inspires us to listen to our inner voice and recognize our thoughts.

Fire: Passion and Transformation (Sense of Sight)

Fire symbolizes transformation and passion, relating to our sense of sight. By observing flames or sunlight, we can reflect on what ignites our passions. Consider, "What inspires me?" Fire encourages us to pursue our goals and embrace change.

Space: Connection and Silence (Sense of Heairing)

Space represents vastness and interconnectedness, connected to our sense of hearing. In moments of silence, we can listen to the world and our thoughts. Space prompts us to ask "How do I connect with others?" It reminds us of our unity with everything around us.

These five elements are interconnected. Earth nourishes Water, Water fuels Fire, Fire creates Air, and Air fills the Space that holds them all. This cycle shows how we are part of a greater whole.

As we explore these elements and their relation to our senses, we deepen our understanding of "Who am I?" Each element offers a unique perspective, helping us uncover our true selves.

Just understand these elements and try closing your eyes, put earbuds in ears so that you can't hear anything, try to feel every sensation on your body, observe your breath, observe your thoughts. Do this all at the same time in meditation.

With time you will notice that breath will become shorter, thoughts will disappear, you won't be able to see anything, you won't be able to feel any touch, you won't be able to think (but one thought will be still there, 'who is observing all this?)

With practice you will come to know that you are there even without your senses. You will get to know that;

YOU ARE NOT YOUR SENSES.

Join me in the next blog as we continue this exploration and tackle the question, "I AM Not My Emotions"

I Am Not Memory

Let's continue our journey to discover 'Who Am I'. In previous blogs we have already covered 'I am not the body' and 'I am not Mind'. Today we will see 'Am I the Memory?'

When someone asks you 'who are you?: You explain about yourself your name, your hobbies, your characteristics, your nature,your personality etc. But all this data is nothing but just your memory. So you are not this data correct? You can exist without this data.

In the realm of spirituality, we often ponder the nature of our existence and strive to understand the depths of our true selves. As we embark on this transformative journey, we come to realize that our identity goes beyond the boundaries of memory. We are not merely a collection of past experiences, but rather, we are beings of infinite potential and eternal essence. In this article, we will explore the profound realization that "I am not memory" and delve into the boundless nature of our spiritual existence.

Whatever information we gather from our birth is 'Memory'. If I will ask you to imagine 'ghuytimb', can you imagine? No, you can't imagine because this is not in your memory. 

Can you exist without memory? Definitely yes there are many people in the world who has lost their momory and still 'they are'.

Memory, an integral part of human experience, plays a significant role in shaping our perception of self and the world around us. Our memories help us navigate daily life, learn from our past, and create a sense of continuity. However, it is important to recognize that memories do not define who we truly are at our core.

When we cling too tightly to our memories, we confine ourselves to the limitations of the past. We may identify with past traumas, failures, or regrets, allowing them to overshadow our present moment and hinder our growth. But the truth is, we are not limited by our memories. We have the power to transcend them and forge a new path for ourselves.

Beneath the layers of memories lies a profound truth: our eternal essence. Beyond the transitory nature of memories, there exists an unchanging, divine spark within each of us. This eternal essence is our true nature, untouched by the passage of time or the fluctuations of memory.

To realize our eternal essence, we must shift our focus from the external world and turn inward. Through practices like meditation, mindfulness, and self-reflection, we can cultivate a deep connection with our innermost being. In these moments of stillness, we begin to glimpse the vastness of our true self, beyond the constraints of memory.

Living in the Present Moment:

As we awaken to the understanding that we are not memory, we are liberated from the burdens of the past and the anxieties of the future. We become fully present in each moment, experiencing life with a sense of wonder and openness. We embrace the beauty of the present, recognizing that it is the only reality we truly have.

Living in the present moment allows us to tap into our inherent creativity and manifest our desires authentically. We become co-creators of our reality, shaping our lives in alignment with our deepest aspirations. By letting go of attachment to past memories, we free ourselves to explore new possibilities and create a future that resonates with our true essence.

When we realize that we are not memory, we step into the dance of life with grace and surrender. We no longer resist the flow of existence but surrender to the divine unfolding of each moment. We embrace the ever-changing nature of life, knowing that our true self remains unscathed by the passing tides of time.

In this dance, we recognize that every experience, whether pleasant or challenging, is an opportunity for growth and self-discovery. We approach life with curiosity, gratitude, and compassion, knowing that we are not defined by our memories but by the divine essence that animates our being.

I Am Not Mind

    Hello friends! Welcome back to my blog.

Lets continue our journey of knowing 'Who Am I'.

    In the last blog article we discussed 'I am not the Body' and today we will be doing brainstorming on 'I am not the mind'. Before concluding this statement, let's understand what is mind? There is always someone inside us who is talking to ourselves, can we call it mind? Is it the same which thinks?

    When you observe carefully you can figure it out that inside there is someone who is always talking to us day and night all the time. Even if you don't want to hear or don't ask anything it keeps talking. 

    'Today is a beautiful day', 'I need to finish my work today', 'I am really tired now', 'I need to call my friend, what if she won't pick up my call, might be she is busy now, I will call her later, No but I want to talk to her right now' 

    See there is no full stop, it keeps going on like this whole day and even in night when we are sleeping. 

    This is the thinker.

    Now there is a big & important question arises 'Without a thought, Can there be a thinker?' Obviously if there is no thought, how this thinker can think & talk about? 

    So mind is nothing but this thinker & this thinker is nothing but the thought because without thought there is no thinker and without thinking there is no mind.

(Read the above sentence until and unless you understand it clearly.)

    Based upon our understanding here we can conclude that our mind is nothing but a thought.

    So 'Am I The Mind?' or lets ask it like 'Am I The Thought?' definitely I am not the thought because I am still there without any thought.

    If you want to experience this, just observe your thought or lets close your eyes and say 'let me see what am I thinking right now'. You will notice that whenever you observe your thought there is no thought. It is called a 'thoughtless' state. 

    As long as you can observe with focus and concentration, you are in thoughtless state. This is called as 'meditation'.. Being thoughtless so that you can see things as it is without any filters of mind. From here your actual journey of knowing 'Who Am I' starts. When you are are thoughtless you can discover yourself properly.

Again there is a very interesting thing that is, 'thought' evolves from language. Without language we can't think. Animals don't think like human because they don't know language, they don't know 'abcd'. Just try to imagine 'mobile', without saying the word 'mobile' to yourself.

    Its impossible. Without words there can't be a thought. Without thought there can't be the thinker. And without thinker there can't be the mind.

    So now it can be concluded that 'I am not the mind'.

Then who am I?

Lets continue this in my next blog 'I AM Not The Momory'

I Am Not This Body

      Hello everyone, welcome back to my website. I am going to start a new self discovery blog series from today, and starting this with topic 'I am not this body'.

      In my previous blogs/vlogs I mentioned many times that one question that has changed my life is 'Who Am I?'. I am with this question for last 5-6 years. Today I am going to share all those answers which I have got, so lets start.

     I started with my body. I started observing sensations in body as I learnt in Vipassana course. After few months of practice what I came to know is all the sensations are temporary. Every sensation is just coming and going. If I observe the sensation and react to it, its intensity gets increased. Whenever you don't react and just observe it, it passes away. 

     The biggest sensation I felt was in my throat. Whenever I was meditating after few minutes (after 40-50minutes) I was having a strange sensation in my throat and sometimes it was causing me pain, unbearable pain.. I was feeling like something like needle is coming out through my throat. Whenever I was having that sensation I was crying a lot. In initial few days I was used to get scared of this sensation and used to quit my meditation(jfyi this is not related to kundalini).

After a few years, with practice intensity of that sensation decreased. Other normal sensations like tickling, scratching, hotness, coldness, numbness, backpain etc. I was able to handle them very well. Whenever you observe the sensation you come to know that it is just a vibration.. an energy. Our whole body is made up of these vibrations.

     You can verify it by yourself. Now a days there are lot of scientific researches going on. One of the reasarches is 'The Observer Effect' (quantum physics experiment) which proves that whenever there is an observer a particle behaves like a particle but in the absence of an observer it behaves like a wave, here science thinks that the camera is the observer.

     Now I am going to tell you the biggest secret that even science doesn't know.

     What science is thinking, the camera or the recording tool is the 'observer' (you can search 'the observer effect' on youtube)

But the truth I found is the observer is the one who is observing through the instrument. Same applies to the body. The body is not an observer. The body is an 'instrument' through which the observer is observing. The observer is observing the world through the 5 senses of this body touch, nose, ears, eyes & toung. Same as there are image sensors in the camera. 

     Whenever I go deep into meditation and loose the senses/observe without the senses i.e. I close my eyes, slowly I stop hearing sounds, I can't taste as toung goes numb, and as I observe breath slows down and at some point it is not there I stop breathing or it becomes very subtle, the whole body becomes numb. Now there is no instrument. The observer have to observe without the instrument, and he observes the reality. He can see the things as it is. That is what the quantum physics experiment proves. 'the particle behaves like a wave'. I get to know that this body is just a vibration/wave and I am not this body.

     Whatever I eat, it becomes my body. Food is also an energy. My 'body' can't live without food, water, sunlight, air & space. My body is made up of 5 elements prithvi, jal, agni, vayu & akash which is also written in our scriptures.

     Prithvi means food that comes from earth, jal means water, agni means sunlight/temparature, vayu means air/breath and akash means space.

        Medical science has done so much progress that it can transplant body parts or organs of one person to another. Heart transplant, brain transplant, eye transplant every body part can be transplanted, then how can 'I' be this body? I experienced that I am not this body and even science has proved it. I have seen my body changing since my childhood. But the observer who is observing this change is not changing, it is constant.

I continued questioning.. who is this observer?? who is operating this body?? Is it the observer?? Is it nature or any energy?? or is it the mind?? What is mind??

Will continue this self discovery in my next blog.

'I Am Not This Mind'

तस्मै श्री गुरुवे नम:

A letter to my guide Sandeep Maheshwari

    As I have mentioned in my previous blog on Vipassana, my spiritual journey started after doing 10days Vipassana course and I remember S. N. Goenkaji said once you get on your spiritual path you don't need to worry about next steps. Because you automatically come across people who are on the same journey or who will help you in your further journey directly or indirectly.

    Sandeep Maheshwari is the person who guided me towards the next steps and my actual journey of knowing body, mind and consciousness began under his guidance. Here is my first letter to the team of my spiritual teacher Mr. Sandeep Maheshwari.

 

Dear Team Sandeep Maheshwari,

    My name is Rasika Mane. I am from Kolhapur, Maharashtra. I completed my B.Tech. in Information Technology and currently I am working as a software engineer.

I have total 3.5 years of experience in IT.

    In 2016 during my college days, YouTube suggested me a video of Sandeep sir in which Sandeep sir told that he is not earning any money through his seminars or through YouTube, This video made me to go through his YouTube channel. I found some motivational videos there I watched 1 or 2 and left.

    During the end of year 2016 I was waiting for joining letter of my first job and was frustrated due to late joining, one of my friends suggested me Vipassana. I did Vipassana just to have some change, at that time, I was not at all aware of spirituality and all but I did it just because I knew meditation is good for mind and health, It improves focus and awareness, it makes us cool and calm. that's it! I continued vipassana meditation practice and it helped me a lot in improving my focus.

    Then in January 2017 I started my job, In December 2017 I got married.

After few days of marriage, I started feeling like I have achieved everything that I wanted in life.. I had a good job with enough salary(for which I spent 20 years of my life😅), a good family, good friends.

I was feeling contented. I started feeling like all my wishes got completed now what's next??

    I suddenly started thinking about the earth, the stars, the planets, the universe. What is life? Who am I? Why I am here? What is the purpose of my life? Not only my life but why everyone is here? Where are we from? What is birth? What is death? Where will we go after death? So many questions were started arising in my mind about which I never ever thought before.

    I started watching videos related to quantum physics, physics, solar system, science so that I can find what is there beyond this universe, but didn't get much. It is still a mystery to science as well.

    While searching the answers to my questions, I came to know that, there is only one way to find out 'who am I' and that is spirituality. (At that time I got what Vipassana is teaching, What's the exact purpose behind it). The whole purpose of any kind of meditation is to know 'Who Am I' and Vipassana is one of those tools.) I continued meditation for few months but didn't get anything from it. I thought meditation is not going to help me anymore, I was not able to find answers to any of my questions through meditation(may be I was not having enough patience). I stopped meditating. Still my intense curiosity about universe was there. 

    Then one day YouTube suggested me a video of Sandeep sir in which he was talking about the vipassana meditation and his kundalini awakening experience. I can't explain in words what I felt after watching that video. It was a ray of hope for me. I decided to follow his footsteps. if he can know, I too can know. 

    I watched all his videos on YouTube, apart from motivational videos lots of spiritual videos were there on his channel. I subscribed to his channel 'Sandeep Maheshwari Spirituality' so that I can't even miss a single peace of information from him. I got a lot of knowledge from him and I am really really grateful for the same. Without his guidance it was very difficult for me to continue on this path. I literally meditated on his every word.. every sentence.. every session and tried my best to perceive what exactly he is saying. 

    I am really very grateful to YouTube as well for suggesting me the right person's videos on right time😊.

    After that I never stopped. Its been 3 years now I am meditating regularly, trying to know myself, asking questions to my inner self, reading spiritual books, reading biographies of spiritual people but I still don't have answers to few of my questions. There are theoretical answers which I found but I am not satisfied with them. 

I know only I can find those answers, all the answers are within me. I will keep trying.

But definitely I would take whatever help I can take to reach to that inner giant.

    I know many people in the world will have these questions in their mind at some point of time in their life. I want to discuss these things with Sandeep sir and I am sure that the discussion will bring something really beautiful, something very interesting that will be helpful not only for me but also for others continue on the journey of knowing the ultimate truth.

Thanks & Regards,

Rasika

    After sending this email I have received a reply from team Sandeep Maheshwari to mention my contact details in mail (unfortunately I forgot to mention my contact details in mail) I replied to that mail with my contact number and eagerly waiting to talk to my spiritual teacher.