[Assam] Name a piece of cloud

Sat Mar 18 06:19:19 PST 2006

Dear Jugal,
An earlier transmittal had too many addenda which I have now erased. I hope this will go through into the net. I also re-named the title.
With the best wishes,
Himendra

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Himendra Thakur 
To: Alpana B. Sarangapani 
Cc: Ram Sarangapani ; Manoj Das ; Lahori Barthakur ; Indrajit Barua ; jkk2020 at aim.com ; Ginima Barua ; Dilip/Dil Deka ; Barua25 ; assam at assamnet.org 
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 10:44 PM
Subject: Re: Nirvana of the soul

Dear Alpana,

Thanks for telling me about these books. These books give solace and peace that we need. I feel very deeply for the catastrophe that Ram and you went through. Although you are much younger to me --- almost my daughter's age --- I have developed a respect for you by seeing the strength with which you have faced the tragedy. I did not mention it in my letter, but I had that in my mind all the time. I wrote to you about Nirvana because of that. 

At this point, let me reiterate something that I wrote in my letter. Please look at the blue sunny sky in a lazy Sunday afternoon and watch the clouds floating at distance. I learnt this from my mother many years ago. "Whenever you are in sorrow, look at the clouds moving in a blue sky. They will take away your sorrow," my mother said.

My mother was not a great philosopher, but she knew life. I did not completely understand her at that time. Now, at the end of my life, I found something ---- this was seen by the Rishi in Chandogya Upanishad. 

The pieces of cloud floating in the blue sky keep on taking new shapes. Can we give a name to any of those pieces of clouds? By the time we give it a name, it becomes different and floats away somewhere else.

Let me give you here 266 words from the end of the drama NIRVANA. Biju, the 25 year old pilot, is talking to his sister Roopa (23), telling her what happened to him and another pilot (same name, same age) in the airplane at an altitude of 40,000 feet:

BIJU: Then there was a problem in our airplane ... the engine  started coughing. The plane became very restless. The airplane said he wanted to say goodbye ... he said he was already late for his next appointment.

ROOPA: The airplane said that ? His next appointment ?? What did you do ? What was his next appointment ??

BIJU: We put on our space suit and we ejected from the airplane. We let the plane go. We let him go to his next appointment. The airplane came around, gave us a salute, and went away to his most favourite dancing party ...  Samudra  arnava ... the Eternal Cosmic Dance of Particles.

ROOPA: And ...  you two ???

BIJU: We were then floating in the bright blue sky. I heard Biju's voice on the radio, pointing to the ground below, he asked me, "Do you really want to go back to those incongruities ?" I asked him, "Why ? Do you not want to go ?" He said, "I'll go back if they agree to see their own reality."

ROOPA: Reality ?

BIJU: I was in a great dilemma. I asked, "What about our father mother brother sister, what will happen to the love they have for us ?" He replied, "In their love, there is discrimination, there is pain. In the ignorance of that love, their eyes are blind. If I can take a piece of sky from here, maybe their eyes will open. The Love that I have found here is causeless, everlasting. The light that I see here does not have a shadow."

Please give me your postal mailing address so that I may send a book to both Ram and you. Then we will discuss. I pray to the Almighty to take away your sorrow and fill your heart with hope and tranquility.

With love to both of you, and

With love to everybody,

Himendra 

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Alpana B. Sarangapani 
  To: hthakur at comcast.net 
  Cc: dasmk2k at gmail.com ; lahorianil at hotmail.com ; jkk2020 at aim.com ; shivadoul at yahoo.com ; dilipdeka at yahoo.com ; barua25 at hotmail.com ; assam at assamnet.org 
  Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 6:44 PM
  Subject: RE: Nirvana of the soul

  Thanks for the note, Himendra-da. I will just have to go through it again and write back. In the mean time...

  >Please share with us as to what you have "been reading many books on 'life after >life' lately".  

  Oh, most of these books mainly pertain to the situation that we are in - the catastrophe that Ram and I have just gone through which totally sucked the life out of us. Actually, these are not suited for the "regular" people, but us. I (not always Ram, though) tend to believe and get some solace reading some of these books. Here are a few, from about 50 of my borrowed collection so far - from all over the place:

  1. Proud Spirit: lessons, insights & healing from "The voice of the spirit world"/Altea, Rosemary.

        2. Soul Connection: Memoir of a birthmother's healing journey/Hughes, Ann H.

        3. Healing the hardware of the soul: How making the brain-soul connection can optimize your life, love, and spiritual growth/Amen, Daniel G.

        4. After life: answers from the other side/Edwards, John

        5. Life after life: the investigation of a phenomenon--survival of bodily death/Dr. Moody, Raymond A.

        6. Reunions: visionary encounters with departed loved ones/Dr. Moody, Raymond A.

        7. Coming back : a psychiatrist explores past life journeys /Moody, Raymond A. Jr., with Paul Perry.

        8. Induced After-death Communication: A New Therapy for Healing Grief And Trauma/Dr.s: Allan Botkin, R. Craig Hogan, Raymond A. Moody (Foreword).

        9. Hello from Heaven! : a new field of research, after-death communication, confirms that life and love are eternal / Guggenheim, Bill & Judy.

        10. Reaching to heaven: a spiritual journey through life and death/Praagh, James Van.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  From: "Himendra Thakur" <hthakur at comcast.net>
  To: "Alpana B. Sarangapani" <absarangapani at hotmail.com>
  CC: "Manoj Das" <dasmk2k at gmail.com>,"Lahori Barthakur" <lahorianil at hotmail.com>,<jkk2020 at aim.com>,"Ginima Barua" <shivadoul at yahoo.com>,"Dilip/Dil Deka" <dilipdeka at yahoo.com>,"Barua25" <barua25 at hotmail.com>,<assam at assamnet.org>
  Subject: Nirvana of the soul
  Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 18:33:50 -0500

    Dear Alpona,

    Somebody sent me a greeting "Happy Holi. Have a lot of fun with colors!" --- from where I picked up the word "fun" which is "Ananda" --- bliss --- joy --- happiness --- !!!

    Human babies start to smile at about 4 months of age. Other than the humans, no other living beings know how to smile or laugh. Animals run their lives with blind instincts. Human beings are capable of looking back at their own instincts because they are endowed with "Consciousness".

    Looking within, human beings "feel" the existence of a soul within. They realize that the soul within is different from the body. 

    This is a unique experience of every individual. However, many well-meaning knowledgeable people, who call themselves "Atheists", deny this. They do not accept the existence of the soul within. They argue that the "feeling" that there is a soul within is a result of peer pressure. Although it may give some comfort, some solace, or some relief in this otherwise dry and dreary world, such a "feeling" maybe unreal and untrue.

    The dispute is going on for centuries. Since my knowledge is extremely limited, I follow some sort of a principle of uncertainty !! 

    By adhering to a "feeling" that a soul exists, that the soul is different from the body, and that whereas the body will perish, the soul will not, people face one inevitable question: What happens to the soul when the body dies? Every religion has its own answer: the Semitic religions "believe" in various forms of eternal hell &/or eternal heaven, Hinduism and Buddhism "believe" in different form of transmigration of the soul. Since my knowledge is extremely limited, I do not want to discuss about the Semitic religions, because they maybe offended if I make a mistake. However, we may continue the discussion about the Hindu "faith" --- and touch a bit of Buddhism.

    Please share with us as to what you have "been reading many books on 'life after life' lately".  

    As for "it says that there is an astral world where the soul goes after leaving the earth plane and lives happily before deciding to re-incarnate - which could be decades in human years. The soul comes down to the earth to acquire knowledge and then goes back to the astral plane - but to a higher level" I must point out that these assertions are based on "belief" and not on any proof. 

    As for the Hindu "faith", the strangest part is that there is no "faith" in Hinduism ---every individual is free to believe anything suitable to the mental level of that individual, there is no order,  no command,  no doctrine, no dogma, no conversion, no exclusion, no punishment,   --- "joto mot toto poth" (as many opinions, that many paths) --- if YajurVeda talks about "Boikuntho" as  an astral plane at a higher level", so does Mandukya Upanishad talk about Advaita leading to Nirvana. 

    Referring to astral plane of Boikuntha where the "soul" will go for "'life after life'", you asked "Is that where one goes after they achieve Nirvana?" As I understand, Nirvana is not Death. It is a State of Existence.

    Let us look at the last verse of Mandukya Upanishad:

    Amatra --- dimensionless

    Chaturtha --- this is the fourth state

    Avyvaharya --- nothing is happening. Time is Zero

    Prapancha upashamah --- all human emotions are quenched 

    Siva --- Eternal Bliss

    Advaita --- this is Unique, Non-dual 

    Evam onkara atma eva --- this omkara is the soul

    Shangvishati atmana atmanam --- only soul can (comprehend and) enter into soul

    Yah evam veda yah evam veda --- look at this, look at this.

    This Upanishad from the Atharva Veda tells the reader about Advaita that will lead to the state of Nirvana: All Dimensions are Zero --- there is no length, no breadth, no depth; Time is Zero, nothing is happening; All human emotions are quenched ---  there is no pain, no sorrow, no joy, no hope, no despair, no love, no hatred --- this is Nirvana.

    Nirvana is seen as complete "freedom" --- termed as "moksha" --- which became the most covetable goal of life in Hinduism and Buddhism. After attaining moksha, a person does not need any fame, glory, family, friends, village, country --- such a person is wrapped up only in his or her own individuality which is absolutely free. They do not work, because work will bring bondage into their life. Who will feed them?

    In Bhagavadgita, Shrikrishna reiterated the goal of moksha. In the Second Chapter, He preached the imperishability and indestructibility of the soul, followed by a brief advice about the path of wisdom and stabilization of the mind as "sthitaprajna", arriving at Nirvana in the last verse of the Second Chapter. 

    Gita would have ended there. Problem comes up when Arjuna starts the Third Chapter of Bhagavadgita with the most penetrating question: "IF I can achieve Nirvana in this way, why are you engaging me into work?"

    "You shall work because you are a part of Nature" was Shrikrishna's reply [3-5].

    Even after attaining Nirvana, Shrikrishna says very clearly in Bhagavadgita, one must continue to work, because one is a part of Nature. Agreeing that blind work under the blind forces of the blind instincts of Nature will create bondage, Shrikrishna preaches a unique method of working "without attachment" which will eliminate bondage. 

    Working without attachment does not mean working without purpose. The only way one can perform unattached work will be to work for the purpose of the good of the society, termed as LOKASANGRAHA [3-20,25] --- which was defined by Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan as "to Spiritualize the Society." 

    This is where I had to bring forth the Vision from Chandogya Upanishad --- when all dimensions are zero, Length is Zero, Time is Zero, Infinite Mass is in the state of the Eternal Cosmic Dance of Shiva, transferring Matter from Energy into Waves ---- [this is the cover-page of  the drama NIRVANA] --- in that enormous Sky, the Rishi of Chandogya Upanishad saw the Triumph of Human Consciousness, Love.

    When we look at the blue sunny sky in a lazy Sunday afternoon and watch the clouds floating at distance --- we try to give name to pieces of cloud that break up and become different --- we give up because the clouds are not our children whom we could give a name and keep --- we do see Love in the Sky.

    It is Human Consciousness that leads us to feel the Sky.  Looking at the Sky, we see broken airplanes, spacecraft debris and the galaxies --- these are all the Cosmic Dance of Particles. It is Human Consciousness that leads us to see "Joy... that is not bound by the pleasure and pain of the world. Joy ... that is not bound by hope ... hope is another name for deception,  a secret tunnel of despair. Joy ... that is not bound by possessive love ... hatred is the other face of that kind of love. This is the Joy of pure, causeless, unconditional  love ... like our galaxy blue sky."

    I started this letter with babies who start to smile at about 4 months of age, I then wondered about the existence of the soul within --- now I find that I have to sequence them properly with human consciousness: 

    The sequence is sat-chit-ananda 

        Sat --- Existence of the Soul,

        Chit --- Human Consciousness, 

        Ananda --- Joy of pure, causeless, unconditional  love 

    To realize this, we need the State of Nirvana in our heart.

    With love to everybody,

    Himendra

      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Alpana B. Sarangapani 
      To: hthakur at comcast.net ; barua25 at hotmail.com 
      Cc: dasmk2k at gmail.com ; dilipdeka at yahoo.com ; ibarua at yahoo.com ; jkk2020 at aim.com ; assam at assamnet.org 
      Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 11:45 AM
      Subject: RE: Happy Phakua !

      Dear Himendra-da: 

      Could you tell us more about it? Is it about the nirvana of the soul? Is your book for sale?

      Also, does this or any of your books talk about the soul? What exactly does hinduism say about it? Do different souls have connection to each other?

      I've been reading many books on 'life after life' lately, where it says that there is an astral world where the soul goes after leaving the earth plane and lives happily before deciding to re-incarnate - which could be decades in human years. The soul comes down to the earth to acquire knowledge and then goes back to the astral plane - but to a higher level. 

      That higher level could be the 'Boikuntho' (I think YajurVeda talks about it) that we hear about. Is that where one goes after they achieve Nirvana? And is Boikuntha the paradise of Krishna only, what about Shiva and the other hindu Gods?

      Again, please do let me know more about your books and keep sending those interesting anecdotes that you so beautifully put. Also, please let me know of any books that might have any information on the soul - with different beliefs, and not necessarily only hinduism.

      You can send me the info but I thought others might have some info and would like to chime in when they do or just would like to know. 

      Thank you for sending the information.

      With regards,

      Alpana.

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